Nutritional Substance Label System For Adaptive Conditioning

ABSTRACT

Disclosed herein are nutritional substance labels that communicate in a format allowing retrieval of adaptive conditioning instructions unique to an individual nutritional product at the time of conditioning and intended to optimize a nutritional, organoleptic, or aesthetic value targeted by the transformer.

RELATED PATENT APPLICATIONS

This application is a divisional of Utility application Ser. No.14/080,768 filed Nov. 14, 2013, which is a continuation-in-part ofUtility application Ser. No. 13/684,113 filed Nov. 21, 2012, which is acontinuation of Utility application Ser. No. 13/485,863 filed May 31,2012, now abandoned, which claims priority to U.S. Provisional PatentApplication Ser. No. 61/624,992 filed Apr. 16, 2012; U.S. ProvisionalPatent Application Ser. No. 61/625,002, filed Apr. 16, 2012; and U.S.Provisional Patent Application, 61/625,010, filed Apr. 16, 2012, thecontents of which are incorporated herein by reference in theirentirety.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present inventions relate to the creation of nutritional substancelabeling to communicate adaptive conditioning instructions to achieveoptimal nutritional, organoleptic or aesthetic characteristics targetedby the transformer of the nutritional substance.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Nutritional substances are traditionally grown (plants), raised(animals) or synthesized (synthetic compounds). Additionally,nutritional substances can be found in a wild, non-cultivated form,which can be caught or collected. While the collectors and creators ofnutritional substances generally obtain and/or generate informationabout the source, history, caloric content and/or nutritional content oftheir products, they generally do not pass such information along to theusers of their products. It would be desirable for such information beavailable to the consumers of nutritional substances, as well as allparticipants in the food and beverage industry—the nutritional substancesupply system.

Caloric content refers to the energy in nutritional substances, commonlymeasured in calories. The caloric content could be represented as sugarsand/or carbohydrates in the nutritional substances. The nutritionalcontent, also referred to herein as nutritional value, of foods andbeverages, as used herein, refers to the non-caloric content of thesenutritional substances which are beneficial to the organisms whichconsume these nutritional substances. For example, the nutritionalcontent of a nutritional substance could include vitamins, minerals,proteins, and other non-caloric components which are necessary, or atleast beneficial, to the organism consuming the nutritional substances.

Consumers are beginning to demand that the food and beverage industryoffer products which include higher nutritional content, and/or at leastinformation regarding nutritional content of such products, as well asinformation regarding the source, creation and other origin informationfor the nutritional substance. In fact, consumers are already willing topay higher prices for higher nutritional content. This can be seen athigh-end grocery stores which offer organic, minimally processed, fresh,non-adulterated nutritional substances. Further, as societies andgovernments seek to improve their constituents' health and lowerhealthcare costs, incentives and/or mandates will be given to the foodand beverage industry to track, maintain, and/or increase thenutritional content of nutritional substances they handle. There will bea need for an industry-wide solution to allow the management ofnutritional content across the entire cycle from creation toconsumption. In order to manage the nutritional content of nutritionalsubstances across the entire cycle from creation to consumption, thenutritional substance industry will need to identify, track, measure,estimate, preserve, transform, condition, and record nutritional contentfor nutritional substances. Of particular importance is the measurement,estimation, and tracking of changes to the nutritional content of anutritional substance from creation to consumption. This informationcould be used, not only by the consumer in selecting particularnutritional substances to consume, but could be used by the other foodand beverage industry participants, including creation, preservation,transformation, and conditioning, to make decisions on how to create,handle and process nutritional substances. Additionally, those who sellnutritional substances to consumers, such as restaurants and grocerystores, could communicate perceived qualitative values of thenutritional substance in their efforts to market and position theirnutritional substance products. Further, a determinant of price of thenutritional substance could be particular nutritional, organoleptic, oraesthetic values, and if changes to those values are perceived asdesirable. For example, if a desirable value has been maintained,improved, or minimally degraded, it could be marketed as a premiumproduct. Still further, a system allowing creators, preservers,transformers, and conditioners of nutritional substances to updatelabeling content to reflect the most current information about thenutritional substance would provide consumers with the information theyneed to make informed decisions regarding the nutritional substancesthey purchase and consume. Such information updates could includenutritional, organoleptic, or aesthetic values of the nutritionalsubstance, and may further include information regarding the source,creation and other origin information for the nutritional substance.

For example, the grower of sweet corn generally only provides basicinformation as the variety and grade of its corn to the packager, whopreserves and ships the corn to a producer for use in a ready-to-eatdinner. The packager may only tell the producer that the corn has beenfrozen as loose kernels of sweet corn. The producer may only provide theconsumer with rudimentary instructions how to cook or reheat theready-to-eat dinner in a microwave oven, toaster oven or conventionaloven, and only tell the consumer that the dinner contains whole kernelcorn among the various items in the dinner. Finally, the consumer of thedinner will likely keep her opinions on the quality of the dinner toherself, unless it was an especially bad experience, where she mightcontact the producer's customer support program to complain. Veryminimal, or no, information on the nutritional content of theready-to-eat dinner is passed along to the consumer. The consumer knowsessentially nothing about changes (generally a degradation, but could bea maintenance or even an improvement) to the nutritional content of thesweet corn from creation, processing, packaging, cooking, preservation,preparation by consumer, and finally consumption by the consumer. Theconsumer is even more unlikely to be aware of possible changes tolabeling content that a creator, preserver, transformer, or conditionermay just have become be aware of, such as changes in information aboutnutritional, organoleptic, or aesthetic values of the nutritionalsubstance or changes in information regarding the source, creation andother origin information about the nutritional substance. Ifcommunicated, such changes to labeling content could affect a purchasingpreference or consumption preference of a consumer. Further, ifcommunicated, such changes to labeling content could affect the health,safety, and wellbeing of the consumer. It is also clear that suchchanges would best be communicated rapidly and by a means readilyutilized by a consumer.

Consumers' needs are changing as consumers are demanding healthierfoods, such as “organic foods.” Customers are also asking for moreinformation about the nutritional substances they consume, such asspecific characteristics' relating not only to nutritional content, butto allergens or digestive intolerances. For example, nutritionalsubstances which contain lactose, gluten, nuts, dyes, etc. need to beavoided by certain consumers. However, the producer of the ready-to-eatdinner, in the prior example, has very little information to share otherthan possibly the source of the elements of the ready-to-eat dinner andits processing steps in preparing the dinner. Generally, the producer ofthe ready-to-eat dinner does not know the nutritional content andorganoleptic state and aesthetic condition of the product after it hasbeen reheated or cooked by the consumer, cannot predict changes to theseproperties, and cannot inform a consumer of this information to enablethe consumer to better meet their needs. For example, the consumer maywant to know what proportion of desired organoleptic properties orvalues, desired nutritional content or values, or desired aestheticproperties or values of the corn in the ready-to-eat dinner remain aftercooking or reheating, and the change in the desired nutritional contentor values, the desired organoleptic properties or values, or the desiredaesthetic properties or values (usually a degradation, but could be amaintenance or even improvement). There is a need to preserve, measure,estimate, store and/or transmit information regarding such nutritional,organoleptic, and aesthetic values, including changes to these values,throughout the nutritional substance supply system. Given theopportunity and a system capable of receiving and processing real timeconsumer feedback and updates regarding changes in the nutritional,organoleptic, and/or aesthetic value of nutritional substances,consumers can even play a role in updating dynamic information about thenutritional substances they have purchased and/or prepared forconsumption, such that that information is available and useful toothers in the nutritional substance supply system.

The caloric and nutritional content information for a prepared food thatis provided to the consumer is often minimal. For example, when sugar islisted in the ingredient list, the consumer generally does receive anyinformation about the source of the sugar, which can come from a varietyof plants, such as sugarcane, beets, or corn, which will affect itsnutritional content. Conversely, some nutritional information that isprovided to consumers is so detailed, the consumer can do little withit. For example, this of ingredients is from a nutritional label on aconsumer product: Vitamins-A 355 IU 7%, E 0.8 mg 4%, K 0.5 mcg, 1%,Thiamin 0.6 mg 43%, Riboflavin 0.3 mg 20%, Niacin 6.0 mg 30%, B6 1.0 mg52%, Foliate 31.5 mcg 8%, Pantothenic 7%; Minerals Calcium 11.6 1%, Iron4.5 mg 25%, Phosphorus 349 mg 35%, Potassium 476 mg 14%, Sodium 58.1 mg2%, Zinc 3.7 mg 24%, Copper 0.5 mg 26%, Manganese 0.8 mg 40%, Selenium25.7 mcg 37%; Carbohydrate 123 g, Dietary fiber 12.1 g, Saturated fat7.9 g, Monosaturated Fat 2,1 g, Polysaturated Fat 3.6 g, Omega 3 fattyacids 108 g, Omega 6 fatty acids 3481, Ash 2.0 g and Water 17.2 g. (%=Daily Value). There is a need to provide information about nutritionalsubstances in a meaningful manner. Such information needs to bepresented in a manner that meets the specific needs of a particularconsumer. For example, consumers with a medical condition, such asdiabetes, would want to track specific information regarding nutritionalvalues associated with sugar and other nutrients in the foods andbeverages they consume, and would benefit further from knowing changesin these values or having tools to quickly indicate or estimate thesechanges in a retrospective, current, or prospective fashion, and eventools to report these changes, or impressions of these changes, in areal-time fashion. Consumers would want to track medicaments forspecific requirements, changes in their medicinal values, degradation,and for potential interactions with other medicaments and nutritionalsubstances they are consuming or planning to consume.

In fact, each industry participant in the food and beverage industryalready creates and tracks some information, including caloric andnutritional information, about their product internally. For example,the famer who grew the corn knows the variety of the seed, condition ofthe soil, the source of the water, the fertilizers and pesticides used,and can measure the caloric and nutritional content at creation. Thepackager of the corn knows when it was picked, how it was transported tothe packaging plant, how the corn was preserved and packaged beforebeing sent to the ready-to-eat dinner producer, when it was delivered tothe producer, and what degradation to caloric and nutritional contenthas occurred. The producer knows the source of each element of theready-to-eat dinner, how it was processed, including the recipefollowed, and how it was preserved and packaged for the consumer. Notonly does such a producer know what degradation to caloric andnutritional content occurred, the producer can modify its processing andpost-processing preservation to minimally affect nutritional content.The preparation of the nutritional substance for consumption can alsodegrade the nutritional content of nutritional substances. Finally, theconsumer knows how she prepared the dinner, what condiments were added,and whether she did or did not enjoy it.

If there was a mechanism to share this information, the quality of thenutritional substances, including caloric and nutritional, organoleptic,and aesthetic value, could be preserved and improved. Consumers could bebetter informed about nutritional substances they select and consume,including the state, and changes in the state, of the nutritionalsubstance throughout its lifecycle from creation to consumption. Theefficiency and cost effectiveness of nutritional substances could alsobe improved. Feedback within the entire chain from creator to consumercould provide a closed-loop system that could improve quality (taste,appearance, and caloric and nutritional content), efficiency, value andprofit. For example, in the milk supply chain, at least 10% of the milkproduced is wasted due to safety margins included in product expirationdates. The use of more accurate tracking information, measured quality(including nutritional content) information, and historicalenvironmental information could substantially reduce such waste.Collecting, preserving, measuring and/or tracking information about anutritional substance in the nutritional substance supply system, wouldallow needed accountability. There would be nothing to hide.

As consumers are demanding more information about what they consume,they are asking for products that have higher nutritional content andmore closely match good nutritional requirements, and would likenutritional products to actually meet their specific nutritionalrequirements. While grocery stores, restaurants, and all those whoprocess and sell food and beverages may obtain some information fromcurrent nutritional substance tracking systems, such as labels, thesecurrent systems can provide only limited information.

Traditional food processors take nutritional substances from producersand transform them into nutritional substances for consumption byconsumers. While they have some knowledge of the nutritional substancesthey purchase, and make such selections to meet the needs of theconsumers, they generally do not transmit that information along toconsumers, nor change the way they transform a nutritional substancebased on the history or current condition of the nutritional substancereceived for transformation. Further, they do not have knowledge of thenutritional substance's residual nutritional, organoleptic, or aestheticvalue following transformation, and still further, they do not, andcannot, provide the transformed nutritional substance with aconditioning protocol responsive to the post transformation nutritional,organoleptic, or aesthetic value.

Consumers of nutritional substances are sometimes given options on howto prepare nutritional substances they have obtained from the store,such as different cooking devices: microwave ovens, toaster ovens,conventional ovens, etc., and/or limited taste preferences such ascrunchy or soft. However, if the consumer desires to prepare a specificrecipe, they must obtain all the proper ingredients themselves, as wellas prepare the recipe themselves including which cooking appliances needto be used. Further, the consumer has no way of knowing the history orcurrent condition of the nutritional substances they obtain forpreparing a desired recipe. Still further, the consumer has no way ofknowing how to change or modify the conditioning process to achievedesired nutritional, organoleptic, and aesthetic properties afterpreparation. Consumers locally store, condition, and consume nutritionalsubstances they acquire, but have no way to change the way they locallystore, condition, and consume the nutritional substances based on thehistory or current condition of the nutritional substances.

An important issue in the creation, preservation, transformation,conditioning, and consumption of nutritional substances are the changesthat occur in nutritional substances due to a variety of internal andexternal factors. Because nutritional substances are composed ofbiological, organic, and/or chemical compounds, they are generallysubject to degradation. This degradation generally reduces thenutritional, organoleptic, and/or aesthetic values of nutritionalsubstances. While not always true, nutritional substances are bestconsumed at their point of creation. However, being able to consumenutritional substances at the farm, at the slaughterhouse, at thefishery, or at the food processing plant is at least inconvenient, ifnot impossible. Currently, the food and beverage industry attempts tominimize the loss of nutritional, organoleptic, and/or aesthetic value,often through the use of additives or preservatives and often throughfreezing the nutritional substance, and/or attempts to hide this loss ofnutritional, organoleptic, and/or aesthetic value from consumers.Consumers are provided with virtually no tools to help them in theirattempts to determine and minimize the loss of nutritional,organoleptic, and/or aesthetic value of the nutritional substances theyacquire, locally store, condition, and consume.

Overall, the examples herein of some prior or related systems and theirassociated limitations are intended to be illustrative and notexclusive. Other limitations of existing or prior systems will becomeapparent to those of skill in the art upon reading the followingDetailed Description.

Objects of the Invention

It is an object of the present invention to minimize and/or trackdegradation of nutritional, organoleptic, and/or aesthetic value ofnutritional substances, and/or collect, store, and/or transmitinformation regarding this degradation, through and including theconditioning and consumption of the nutritional substances.

It is an object of the present invention that a transformer of anutritional substance maintains and provides creation and/orpreservation information for components of a transformed nutritionalsubstance and additionally maintains and provides information regardingthe transformation.

It is an object of the present invention to utilize source and packagingand preservation information to modify or adapt the transformation ofthe nutritional substance to preserve and/or minimize degradation ofand/or improve nutritional, organoleptic, or aesthetic value and/orquality of the transformed nutritional substance. Additionally, suchinformation can be used by an automated system to adaptively transformthe nutritional substance so as to preserve and/or minimize degradationof and/or improve nutritional, organoleptic, or aesthetic value and/orquality of the transformed nutritional substance.

It is a further object of the present invention to estimate a change ina nutritional, organoleptic, or aesthetic value of a nutritionalsubstance to be conditioned prior to conditioning and communicate theestimated change to a consumer before and/or after conditioning.

It is an object of the present invention to estimate a required changein a nutritional, organoleptic, or aesthetic value of a nutritionalsubstance to be accomplished through conditioning, prior toconditioning, in order to achieve a target nutritional, organoleptic, oraesthetic value through conditioning. It is a further object that saidestimate is responsive to the nutritional, organoleptic, or aestheticvalue of the nutritional substance upon transformation and may furtherbe responsive to changes in the nutritional, organoleptic, or aestheticvalue following its post transformation preservation.

It is a further object of the present invention to modify theconditioning of the nutritional substance to attain said targetnutritional, organoleptic, or aesthetic value of the conditionednutritional substance.

It is an object of the present invention that a transformed nutritionalsubstance enables the retrieval and utilization of conditioninginstructions unique to that individual transformed nutritional substanceat the time of conditioning in order to achieve a target postconditioning nutritional, organoleptic or aesthetic value determined bythe transformer following transformation. The target post conditioningnutritional, organoleptic, or aesthetic value may be responsive to: anoptimal nutritional, organoleptic, or aesthetic value of the nutritionalsubstance upon transformation; actual changes in the nutritional,organoleptic, or aesthetic value following its post transformationpreservation; and estimated changes in the nutritional, organoleptic, oraesthetic value following its conditioning, wherein conditioning isdynamically modified responsive to said optimal nutritional,organoleptic, or aesthetic value upon transformation and actual changesin the value following its post transformation preservation.

It is a further object of the present invention to use source,preservation, and transformation information to define a conditioningprotocol for a single conditioning apparatus and/or multipleconditioning apparatuses.

It is a further object of the present invention that the conditioningprotocol may be determined by the transformer following transformation,such as by estimation, calculation, or through experiments includingconditioning representative transformed nutritional substances.

It is a further object the conditioning protocol utilized to conditionthe nutritional substance is related to a consumer's input.

It is an object of the present invention to transform nutritionalsubstances in order to create a nutritional substance product forconditioning and consumption wherein various component nutritionalsubstances are: transformed, individually or collectively, including insome cases partial conditioning, and provided to consumers in a formatallowing adaptive conditioning unique to the individual posttransformation nutritional substance that achieves post conditioningnutritional, organoleptic or aesthetic values targeted by thetransformer following transformation.

It is an object of the present invention that the format allowingadaptive conditioning is the provision of an adaptive conditioningprotocol directly with the nutritional substance, or by the provision ofa reference thereto with the nutritional substance.

It is an object of the present invention that the adaptive conditioningprotocol is responsive to the nutritional, organoleptic, or aestheticvalue of the nutritional substance following transformation and the postconditioning nutritional, organoleptic, or aesthetic value targeted bythe transformer.

It is a further object of the present invention that the adaptiveconditioning protocol is determined by the transformer conditioning arepresentative post transformation nutritional substance and collectingnutritional substance attribute information related to the nutritional,organoleptic, or aesthetic value of the nutritional substance sensedbefore and during conditioning the representative post transformationnutritional substance.

It is a further object of the present invention that the adaptiveconditioning protocol is responsive to nutritional substance attributeinformation related to the nutritional, organoleptic, or aesthetic valueof the nutritional substance and sensed before or during conditioning bya consumer.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In an embodiment of the present invention, degradation of nutritional,organoleptic, and/or aesthetic value of nutritional substances istracked and/or minimized, and information regarding this degradation,through and including the conditioning and consumption of thenutritional substances, is collected, stored, and/or transmitted.

In an embodiment of the present invention, a transformer of anutritional substance maintains and provides creation and/orpreservation information for components of the transformed nutritionalsubstance and additionally maintains and provides information regardingthe transformation.

In an embodiment of the present invention, source and packaging andpreservation information are utilized to modify or adapt thetransformation of the nutritional substance to preserve and/or minimizedegradation of and/or improve nutritional, organoleptic, or aestheticvalue and/or quality of the transformed nutritional substance. In anadditional embodiment, such information is used by an automated systemto adaptively transform the nutritional substance so as to preserveand/or minimize degradation of and/or improve nutritional, organoleptic,or aesthetic value and/or quality of the transformed nutritionalsubstance.

In a further embodiment of the present invention, a change in anutritional, organoleptic, or aesthetic value of a nutritional substanceto be conditioned is estimated prior to conditioning and communicated toa consumer before and/or after conditioning.

In an embodiment of the present invention, a required change in anutritional, organoleptic, or aesthetic value of a nutritional substanceto be accomplished through conditioning is estimated prior toconditioning to achieve a target nutritional, organoleptic, or aestheticvalue through conditioning. In a further embodiment, the estimate isresponsive to the nutritional, organoleptic, or aesthetic value of thenutritional substance upon transformation. In a still furtherembodiment, the estimate may be responsive to changes in thenutritional, organoleptic, or aesthetic value following its posttransformation preservation.

In a further embodiment of the present invention, the conditioning ofthe nutritional substance is modified to attain said target nutritional,organoleptic, or aesthetic value of the conditioned nutritionalsubstance.

In an embodiment of the present invention, retrieval and utilization ofconditioning instructions unique to an individual transformednutritional substance at the time of conditioning, in order to achieve atarget post conditioning nutritional, organoleptic or aesthetic valuedetermined by the transformer following transformation, is enabled bythe transformed nutritional substance. Such a target post conditioningvalue may be responsive to an optimal nutritional, organoleptic, oraesthetic value of the nutritional substance upon transformation, actualchanges in the value following its post transformation preservation, andestimated changes in the value following its conditioning, whereinconditioning is dynamically modified responsive to said optimalnutritional, organoleptic, or aesthetic value upon transformation andactual changes in the value following its post transformationpreservation.

In a further embodiment of the present invention, source, preservation,and transformation information are used to define a conditioningprotocol for a single conditioning apparatus and/or multipleconditioning apparatuses.

In a further embodiment of the present invention, the conditioningprotocol is be determined by the transformer following transformation,such as by estimation, calculation, or through experiments includingconditioning representative transformed nutritional substances.

In a further embodiment the conditioning protocol utilized to conditionthe nutritional substance is related to a consumer's input.

In an embodiment of the present invention, nutritional substances aretransformed so as to create a nutritional substance product forconditioning and consumption wherein various component nutritionalsubstances are transformed, individually or collectively, including insome cases partial conditioning, and provided to consumers in a formatallowing adaptive conditioning unique to the individual posttransformation nutritional substance that achieves post conditioningnutritional, organoleptic or aesthetic values targeted by thetransformer following transformation.

In an embodiment of the present invention, the format allowing adaptiveconditioning is the provision of an adaptive conditioning protocoldirectly with the nutritional substance, or by the provision of areference thereto with the nutritional substance.

In an embodiment of the present invention, the adaptive conditioningprotocol is responsive to the nutritional, organoleptic, or aestheticvalue of the nutritional substance following transformation and the postconditioning nutritional, organoleptic, or aesthetic value targeted bythe transformer.

In a further embodiment of the present invention, the adaptiveconditioning protocol is determined by the transformer conditioning arepresentative post transformation nutritional substance and collectingnutritional substance attribute information related to the nutritional,organoleptic, or aesthetic value of the nutritional substance, bysensing the nutritional substance before and during conditioning withnutritional attribute sensors.

In a further embodiment of the present invention, the adaptiveconditioning protocol is responsive to nutritional substance attributeinformation related to the nutritional, organoleptic, or aesthetic valueof the nutritional substance and sensed before or during conditioning bya consumer.

Other advantages and features will become apparent from the followingdescription and claims. It should be understood that the description andspecific examples are intended for purposes of illustration only and notintended to limit the scope of the present disclosure.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute apart of this specification, exemplify the embodiments of the presentinvention and, together with the description, serve to explain andillustrate principles of the invention. The drawings are intended toillustrate major features of the exemplary embodiments in a diagrammaticmanner. The drawings are not intended to depict every feature of actualembodiments nor relative dimensions of the depicted elements, and arenot drawn to scale.

FIG. 1 shows a schematic functional block diagram of a nutritionalsubstance supply relating to the present invention;

FIG. 2 shows a graph representing a value of a nutritional substancewhich changes according to a change of condition for the nutritionalsubstance;

FIG. 3 shows a schematic functional block diagram of the transformationmodule 400 according to the present invention;

FIG. 4 shows a schematic functional block diagram of the transformationmodule 400 according to the present invention; and

FIG. 5 shows a schematic functional block diagram of the transformationmodule 400 according to the present invention; and

FIG. 6 shows a schematic functional block diagram of the conditioningmodule 500 according to an alternate embodiment of the presentinvention; and

FIG. 7 shows a schematic functional block diagram of the conditioningmodule 500 according to an alternate embodiment of the presentinvention.

FIG. 8 shows a schematic functional block diagram of a conditioningmodule according to the present invention.

FIGS. 9a and 9b show formats according to the present invention by whicha ΔN, and related residual and initial nutritional, organoleptic, andaesthetic values, may be expressed.

In the drawings, the same reference numbers and any acronyms identifyelements or acts with the same or similar structure or functionality forease of understanding and convenience. To easily identify the discussionof any particular element or act, the most significant digit or digitsin a reference number refer to the Figure number in which that elementis first introduced.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Various examples of the invention will now be described. The followingdescription provides specific details for a thorough understanding andenabling description of these examples. One skilled in the relevant artwill understand, however, that the invention may be practiced withoutmany of these details. Likewise, one skilled in the relevant art willalso understand that the invention can include many other obviousfeatures not described in detail herein. Additionally, some well-knownstructures or functions may not be shown or described in detail below,so as to avoid unnecessarily obscuring the relevant description.

The terminology used below is to be interpreted in its broadestreasonable manner, even though it is being used in conjunction with adetailed description of certain specific examples of the invention.Indeed, certain terms may even be emphasized below; however, anyterminology intended to be interpreted in any restricted manner will beovertly and specifically defined as such in this Detailed Descriptionsection.

The following discussion provides a brief, general description of arepresentative environment in which the invention can be implemented.Although not required, aspects of the invention may be described belowin the general context of computer-executable instructions, such asroutines executed by a general-purpose data processing device (e.g., aserver computer or a personal computer). Those skilled in the relevantart will appreciate that the invention can be practiced with othercommunications, data processing, or computer system configurations,including: wireless devices, Internet appliances, hand-held devices(including personal digital assistants (PDAs)), wearable computers, allmanner of cellular or mobile phones, multi-processor systems,microprocessor-based or programmable consumer electronics, set-topboxes, network PCs, mini-computers, mainframe computers, and the like.Indeed, the terms “controller,” “computer,” “server,” and the like areused interchangeably herein, and may refer to any of the above devicesand systems.

While aspects of the invention, such as certain functions, are describedas being performed exclusively on a single device, the invention canalso be practiced in distributed environments where functions or modulesare shared among disparate processing devices. The disparate processingdevices are linked through a communications network, such as a LocalArea Network (LAN), Wide Area Network (WAN), or the Internet. In adistributed computing environment, program modules may be located inboth local and remote memory storage devices.

Aspects of the invention may be stored or distributed on tangiblecomputer-readable media, including magnetically or optically readablecomputer discs, hard-wired or preprogrammed chips (e.g., EEPROMsemiconductor chips), nanotechnology memory, biological memory, or otherdata storage media. Alternatively, computer implemented instructions,data structures, screen displays, and other data related to theinvention may be distributed over the Internet or over other networks(including wireless networks), on a propagated signal on a propagationmedium (e.g., an electromagnetic wave(s), a sound wave, etc.) over aperiod of time. In some implementations, the data may be provided on anyanalog or digital network (packet switched, circuit switched, or otherscheme).

In some instances, the interconnection between modules is the internet,allowing the modules (with, for example, WiFi capability) to access webcontent offered through various web servers. The network may be any typeof cellular, IP-based or converged telecommunications network, includingbut not limited to Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM), TimeDivision Multiple Access (TDMA), Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA),Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access (OFDM), General PacketRadio Service (GPRS), Enhanced Data GSM Environment (EDGE), AdvancedMobile Phone System (AMPS), Worldwide Interoperability for MicrowaveAccess (WiMAX), Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS),Evolution-Data Optimized (EVDO), Long Term Evolution (LTE), Ultra MobileBroadband (UMB), Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), Unlicensed MobileAccess (UMA), etc.

The modules in the systems can be understood to be integrated in someinstances and in particular embodiments, only particular modules may beinterconnected.

FIG. 1 shows the components of a nutritional substance industry 10. Itshould be understood that this could be the food and beverage ecosystemfor human consumption, but could also be the feed industry for animalconsumption, such as the pet food industry. A goal of the presentinvention for nutritional substance industry 10 is to create, preserve,transform and trace the change in nutritional, organoleptic and/oraesthetic values of nutritional substances, collectively andindividually also referred to herein as ΔN, through their creation,preservation, transformation, conditioning and consumption. While thenutritional substance industry 10 can be composed of many companies orbusinesses, it can also be integrated into combinations of businessserving many roles, or can be one business or even individual. Since ΔNis a measure of the change in a value of a nutritional substance,knowledge of a prior value (or state) of a nutritional substance and theΔN value will provide knowledge of the changed value (or state) of anutritional substance, and can further provide the ability to estimate achange in value (or state).

Module 200 is the creation module. This can be a system, organization,or individual which creates and/or originates nutritional substances.Examples of this module include a farm which grows produce; a ranchwhich raises beef; an aquaculture farm for growing shrimp; a factorythat synthesizes nutritional compounds; a collector of wild truffles; ora deep sea crab trawler.

Preservation module 300 is a preservation system for preserving andprotecting the nutritional substances created by creation module 200.Once the nutritional substance has been created, generally, it will needto be packaged in some manner for its transition to other modules in thenutritional substances industry 10. While preservation module 300 isshown in a particular position in the nutritional substance industry 10,following the creation module 200, it should be understood that thepreservation module 300 actually can be placed anywhere nutritionalsubstances need to be preserved during their transition from creation toconsumption, and that a nutritional substance may experience more thanone preservation event, and that such preservation events may includethe local storage of the nutritional substance, such as by a consumerprior to conditioning or consumption.

Transformation module 400 is a nutritional substance processing system,such as a manufacturer who processes raw materials such as grains intobreakfast cereals. Transformation module 400 could also be aready-to-eat dinner manufacturer who receives the components, oringredients, also referred to herein as component nutritionalsubstances, for a ready-to-eat dinner from preservation module 300 andprepares them into a frozen dinner. While transformation module 400 isdepicted as one module, it will be understood that nutritionalsubstances may be transformed by a number of transformation modules 400on their path to consumption.

Conditioning module 500 is a consumer preparation system for preparingthe nutritional substance immediately before consumption by theconsumer. Conditioning module 500 can be a microwave oven, a blender, atoaster, a convection oven, toaster oven, a cook, etc. It can also besystems used by commercial establishments to prepare nutritionalsubstance for consumers such as a restaurant, an espresso maker, pizzaoven, and other devices located at businesses which provide nutritionalsubstances to consumers. Such nutritional substances could be forconsumption at the business or for the consumer to take out from thebusiness. Conditioning module 500 can also be a combination of any ofthese devices used to prepare nutritional substances for consumption byconsumers.

Consumer module 600 collects information from the living entity whichconsumes the nutritional substance which has passed through the variousmodules from creation to consumption. The consumer can be a human being,but could also be an animal, such as pets, zoo animals and livestock,which are they themselves nutritional substances for other consumptionchains. Consumers could also be plant life which consumes nutritionalsubstances to grow.

Information module 100 receives and transmits information regarding anutritional substance between each of the modules in the nutritionalsubstance industry 10 including, the creation module 200, thepreservation module 300, the transformation module 400, the conditioningmodule 500, and the consumer module 600. The nutritional substanceinformation module 100 can be an interconnecting informationtransmission system which allows the transmission of information betweenvarious modules. Information module 100 contains a database, alsoreferred to herein as a dynamic nutritional value database, where theinformation regarding the nutritional substance resides, particularly ΔNfor the nutritional substance. Information module 100 may also contain amassive database of physical attributes of known nutritional substancesat known nutritional, organoleptic, and aesthetic states, also referredto herein as nutritional substance attribute library, which can beutilized for determining the identity and current nutritional,organoleptic, and aesthetic state of a nutritional substance.Information module 100 can be connected to the other modules by avariety of communication systems, such as paper, computer networks, theinternet and telecommunication systems, such as wirelesstelecommunication systems. In a system capable of receiving andprocessing real time consumer feedback and updates regarding changes inthe nutritional, organoleptic, and/or aesthetic value of nutritionalsubstances, or ΔN, consumers can even play a role in updating a dynamicnutritional value database with observed or measured information aboutthe nutritional substances they have purchased and/or prepared forconsumption, so that the information is available and useful to othersin the nutritional substance supply system, such as through reportsreflecting the consumer input or through modification of ΔN.

FIG. 2 is a graph showing the function of how a nutritional,organoleptic, or aesthetic value of a nutritional substance varies overthe change in a condition of the nutritional substance. Plotted on thevertical axis of this graph can be either the nutritional value,organoleptic value, or even the aesthetic value of a nutritionalsubstance. Plotted on the horizontal axis can be the change in conditionof the nutritional substance over a variable such as time, temperature,location, and/or exposure to environmental conditions. This exposure toenvironmental conditions can include: exposure to air, including the airpressure and partial pressures of oxygen, carbon dioxide, water, orozone; airborne chemicals, pollutants, allergens, dust, smoke,carcinogens, radioactive isotopes, or combustion byproducts; exposure tomoisture; exposure to energy such as mechanical impact, mechanicalvibration, irradiation, heat, or sunlight; or exposure to materials suchas packaging. The function plotted as nutritional substance A could showa ΔN for milk, such as the degradation of a nutritional value of milkover time. Any point on this curve can be compared to another point onthe same curve to measure and/or describe the change in nutritionalvalue, or the ΔN, of nutritional substance A. The plot of thedegradation in the same nutritional value of nutritional substance B,also milk, describes the change in nutritional value, or the ΔN, ofnutritional substance B, a nutritional substance which starts out with ahigher nutritional value than nutritional substance A, but degrades overtime more quickly than nutritional substance A.

In this example, where nutritional substance A and nutritional substanceB are milk, this ΔN information regarding the nutritional substancedegradation profile of each milk could be used by the consumer in theselection and/or consumption of the milk. If the consumer has thisinformation at time zero when selecting a milk product for purchase, theconsumer could consider when the consumer plans to consume the milk, andwhether that is on one occasion or multiple occasions. For example, ifthe consumer planned to consume the milk prior to the point when thecurve represented by nutritional substance B crosses the curverepresented by nutritional substance A, then the consumer should choosethe milk represented by nutritional substance B because it has a highernutritional value until it crosses the curve represented by nutritionalsubstance A. However, if the consumer expects to consume at least someof the milk at a point in time after the time when the curve representedby nutritional substance B crosses the curve represented by nutritionalsubstance A, then the consumer might choose to select the milkrepresented by the nutritional substance A, even though milk representedby nutritional substance A has a lower nutritional value than the milkrepresented by nutritional substance B at an earlier time. This changeto a desired nutritional value in a nutritional substance over a changein a condition of the nutritional substance described in FIG. 2 can bemeasured and/or controlled throughout nutritional substance supplysystem 10 in FIG. 1. This example demonstrates how dynamically generatedinformation regarding a ΔN of a nutritional substance, in this case achange in nutritional value of milk, can be used to understand a rate atwhich that nutritional value changes or degrades; when that nutritionalvalue expires; and a residual nutritional value of the nutritionalsubstance over a change in a condition of the nutritional substance, inthis example a change in time. This ΔN information could further be usedto determine a best consumption date for nutritional substance A and B,which could be different from each other depending upon the dynamicallygenerated information generated for each.

In FIG. 1, Creation module 200 can dynamically encode nutritionalsubstances to enable the tracking of changes in nutritional,organoleptic, and/or aesthetic value of the nutritional substance, orΔN. This dynamic encoding, also referred to herein as a dynamicinformation identifier, can replace and/or complement existingnutritional substance marking systems such as barcodes, labels, and/orink markings. This dynamic encoding, or dynamic information identifier,can be used to make nutritional substance information from creationmodule 200 available to information module 100 for use by preservationmodule 300, transformation module 400, conditioning module 500, and/orconsumption module 600, which includes the ultimate consumer of thenutritional substance. One method of marking the nutritional substancewith a dynamic information identifier by creation module 200, or anyother module in nutritional supply system 10, could include anelectronic tagging system, such as the tagging system manufactured byKovio of San Jose, Calif., USA. Such thin film chips can be used notonly for tracking nutritional substances, but can include components tomeasure attributes of nutritional substances, and record and transmitsuch information. Such information may be readable by a reader includinga satellite-based system. Such a satellite-based nutritional substanceinformation tracking system could comprise a network of satellites withcoverage of some or all the surface of the earth, so as to allow thedynamic nutritional value database of information module 100 real time,or near real time updates about a ΔN of a particular nutritionalsubstance.

Preservation module 300 includes packers and shippers of nutritionalsubstances. The tracking of changes in nutritional, organoleptic, and/oraesthetic values, or a ΔN, during the preservation period withinpreservation module 300 allows for dynamic expiration dates fornutritional substances. For example, expiration dates for dairy productsare currently based generally only on time using assumptions regardingminimal conditions at which dairy products are maintained. Thisextrapolated expiration date is based on a worst-case scenario for whenthe product becomes unsafe to consume during the preservation period. Inreality, the degradation of dairy products may be significantly lessthan this worst-case. If preservation module 300 could measure or derivethe actual degradation information such as ΔN, an actual expirationdate, referred to herein as a dynamic expiration date, can be determineddynamically, and could be significantly later in time than anextrapolated expiration date. This would allow the nutritional substancesupply system to dispose of fewer products due to expiration dates. Thisability to dynamically generate expiration dates for nutritionalsubstances is of particular significance when nutritional substancescontain few or no preservatives. Such products are highly valuedthroughout nutritional substance supply system 10, including consumerswho are willing to pay a premium for nutritional substances with few orno preservatives.

It should be noted that a dynamic expiration date need not be indicatednumerically (i.e., as a numerical date) but could be indicatedsymbolically as by the use of colors—such as green, yellow and redemployed on semaphores—or other designations. In those instances, thedynamic expiration date would not be interpreted literally but, rather,as a dynamically-determined advisory date. In practice a dynamicexpiration date will be provided for at least one component of a singleor multi-component nutritional substance. For multi-componentnutritional substances, the dynamic expiration date could be interpretedas a “best” date for consumption for particular components.

By law, in many localities, food processors such as those intransformation module 400 are required to provide nutritional substanceinformation regarding their products. Often, this information takes theform of a nutritional table applied to the packaging of the nutritionalsubstance. Currently, the information in this nutritional table is basedon averages or minimums for their typical product. Using the nutritionalsubstance information from information module 100 provided by creationmodule 200, preservation module 300, and/or information from thetransformation of the nutritional substance by transformation module400, the food processor could include a dynamically generatednutritional value table, also referred to herein as a dynamicnutritional value table, for the actual nutritional substance beingsupplied. The information in such a dynamic nutritional value tablecould be used by conditioning module 500 in the preparation of thenutritional substance, and/or used by consumption module 600, so as toallow the ultimate consumer the ability to select the most desirablenutritional substance which meets their needs, and/or to trackinformation regarding nutritional substances consumed.

Information about changes in nutritional, organoleptic, and/or aestheticvalues of nutritional substances, or ΔN, is particularly useful in theconditioning module 500 of the present invention, as it allows knowing,or estimating, the pre-conditioning state of the nutritional,organoleptic, and/or aesthetic values of the nutritional substance,including the changes in nutritional, organoleptic, and/or aestheticvalues occurring during local storage of the nutritional substance, andfurther allows for estimation of a ΔN associated with proposedconditioning parameters, also referred to herein as conditioningsequence, conditioning protocol, conditioning cycle, conditioninginstructions, or preparation sequence. The conditioning module 500 cantherefore create conditioning parameters, such as by modifying existingor baseline conditioning parameters, to deliver desired nutritional,organoleptic, and/or aesthetic values after conditioning. Thepre-conditioning state of the nutritional, organoleptic, and/oraesthetic value of a nutritional substance is not tracked or provided tothe consumer by existing conditioners, nor is the ΔN expected from aproposed conditioning tracked or provided to the consumer either beforeor after conditioning. However, using information provided byinformation module 100 from creation module 200, preservation module300, transformation module 400, and consumer feedback and updatesrelated to ΔN, preferably obtained through or provided by local storageenvironments and local storage containers, and/or information measuredor generated by conditioning module 500 prior to conditioning, and/orconsumer input provided through the conditioning module 500 prior toconditioning, conditioning module 500 could provide the consumer withadaptively developed conditioning parameters responsive to the currentΔN of the nutritional substance and the consumer's input, and theestimated or expected ΔN that will result from the adaptive conditioningparameters, and the corresponding residual nutritional, organoleptic, oraesthetic value. Further, consumer feedback and updates regardingobserved or measured changes in the nutritional, organoleptic, and/oraesthetic value of nutritional substances, or ΔN, can play a role inupdating a dynamic nutritional value database with information about thenutritional substances consumers have purchased and/or prepared forconsumption, so that the information is available and useful to othersin the nutritional substance supply system, such as through reportsreflecting the consumer input or through modification of ΔN. Suchinformation regarding the change to nutritional, organoleptic and/oraesthetic value of the nutritional substance, or ΔN, could be providednot only to the consumer, but could also be provided to informationmodule 100 for use by creation module 200, preservation module 300,transformation module 400, so as to track, and possibly improvenutritional substances throughout the entire nutritional substancesupply system 10.

In a further embodiment, the conditioner is provided with varioussensors which can be used to sense attributes of a nutritional substanceprior to conditioning, wherein the sensed attribute values can be usedin determining a current ΔN or corresponding residual nutritional,organoleptic, or aesthetic value of the nutritional substance. In yet afurther embodiment, some or all of the various sensors can be used tosense attributes of the nutritional substance during conditioning, so asto determine ΔN information regarding the nutritional substance duringits conditioning. The ΔN information determined during conditioningprovides closed loop feedback to the conditioner's controller regardingthe adaptive conditioning parameters being implemented. If theclosed-loop feedback indicates that the adaptive conditioning parameterswill achieve desired residual nutritional, organoleptic, and aestheticvalues, the conditioner's controller will continue to implement theadaptive conditioning parameters. However, if the closed-loop feedbackindicates that the adaptive conditioning parameters will not achievedesired residual nutritional, organoleptic, and aesthetic values, theconditioner's controller will modify the adaptive conditioningparameters and implement the modified adaptive conditioning parameters.In the same fashion, the sensors can continue to provide closed-loopfeedback to indicate that currently implemented conditioning parameterswill, or will not, achieve desired residual nutritional, organoleptic,and aesthetic values, and accordingly, the conditioner may continue toimplement the current conditioning parameters, or modify the currentconditioning parameters and implement the modified parameters.

The information regarding nutritional substances provided by informationmodule 100 to consumption module 600 can replace or complement existinginformation sources such as recipe books, food databases likewww.epicurious.com, and Epicurious apps. Through the use of specificinformation regarding a nutritional substance from information module100, consumers can use consumption module 600 to select nutritionalsubstances according to nutritional, organoleptic, and/or aestheticvalues. This will further allow consumers to make informed decisionsregarding nutritional substance additives, preservatives, geneticmodifications, origins, traceability, and other nutritional substanceattributes that may also be tracked through the information module 100.This information can be provided by consumption module 600 throughpersonal computers, laptop computers, tablet computers, and/orsmartphones. Software running on these devices can include dedicatedcomputer programs, modules within general programs, and/or smartphoneapps. An example of such a smartphone app regarding nutritionalsubstances is the iOS ShopNoGMO from the Institute for ResponsibleTechnology. This iPhone app allows consumers access to informationregarding non-genetically modified organisms they may select.Additionally, consumption module 600 may provide information for theconsumer to operate conditioning module 500 in such a manner as tooptimize nutritional, organoleptic, and/or aesthetic values of anutritional substance and/or component nutritional substances thereof,according to the consumer's needs or preference or according to targetvalues established by the provider of the nutritional substance, such asthe transformer, and/or minimize degradation of, preserve, or improvenutritional, organoleptic, and/or aesthetic value of a nutritionalsubstance and/or component nutritional substances thereof.

Through the use of nutritional substance information available frominformation module 100 nutritional substance supply system 10 can tracknutritional, organoleptic, and/or aesthetic value. Using thisinformation, nutritional substances travelling through nutritionalsubstance supply system 10 can be dynamically valued and pricedaccording to nutritional, organoleptic, and/or aesthetic values. Forexample, nutritional substances with longer dynamic expiration dates(longer shelf life) may be more highly valued than nutritionalsubstances with shorter expiration dates. Additionally, nutritionalsubstances with higher nutritional, organoleptic, and/or aestheticvalues may be more highly valued, not just by the consumer, but also byeach entity within nutritional substance supply system 10. This isbecause each entity will want to start with a nutritional substance withhigher nutritional, organoleptic, and/or aesthetic value before itperforms its function and passes the nutritional substance along to thenext entity. Therefore, both the starting nutritional, organoleptic,and/or aesthetic value and the ΔN associated with those values areimportant factors in determining or estimating an actual, or residual,nutritional, organoleptic, and/or aesthetic value of a nutritionalsubstance, and accordingly are important factors in establishingdynamically valued and priced nutritional substances.

During the period of implementation of the present inventions, therewill be nutritional substances being marketed including those benefitingfrom the tracking of dynamic nutritional information such as ΔN, alsoreferred to herein as information-enabled nutritional substances, andnutritional substances which do not benefit from the tracking of dynamicnutritional information such as ΔN, which are not information enabledand are referred to herein as dumb nutritional substances.Information-enabled nutritional substances would be available in virtualinternet marketplaces, as well as traditional marketplaces. Because ofinformation provided by information-enabled nutritional substances,entities within the nutritional substance supply system 10, includingconsumers, would be able to review and select information-enablednutritional substances for purchase. It should be expected that,initially, the information-enabled nutritional substances would enjoy ahigher market value and price than dumb nutritional substances. However,as information-enabled nutritional substances become more the norm, thecost savings from less waste due to degradation of information-enablednutritional substances could lead to their price actually becoming lessthan dumb nutritional substances.

For example, the producer of a ready-to-eat dinner would prefer to usecorn of a high nutritional, organoleptic, and/or aesthetic value in theproduction of its product, the ready-to-eat dinner, so as to produce apremium product of high nutritional, organoleptic, and/or aestheticvalue. Depending upon the levels of the nutritional, organoleptic,and/or aesthetic values, the ready-to-eat dinner producer may be able tocharge a premium price and/or differentiate its product from that ofother producers. When selecting the corn to be used in the ready-to-eatdinner, the producer will seek corn of high nutritional, organoleptic,and/or aesthetic value from preservation module 300 that meets itsrequirements for nutritional, organoleptic, and/or aesthetic value. Thepackager/shipper of preservation module 300 would also be able to chargea premium for corn which has high nutritional, organoleptic, and/oraesthetic values. And finally, the packager/shipper of preservationmodule 300 will select corn of high nutritional, organoleptic, and/oraesthetic value from the grower of creation module 200, who will also beable to charge a premium for corn of high nutritional, organoleptic,and/or aesthetic values.

The change to nutritional, organoleptic, and/or aesthetic value for anutritional substance, or ΔN, tracked through nutritional substancesupply system 10 through nutritional substance information frominformation module 100 can be preferably determined from measuredinformation. However, some or all such nutritional substance ΔNinformation may be derived through measurements of environmentalconditions of the nutritional substance as it travelled throughnutritional substance supply system 10. Additionally, some or all of thenutritional substance ΔN information can be derived from ΔN data ofother nutritional substances which have travelled through nutritionalsubstance supply system 10. Nutritional substance ΔN information canalso be derived from laboratory experiments performed on othernutritional substances, which may approximate conditions and/orprocesses to which the actual nutritional substance has been exposed.Further, consumer feedback and updates regarding observed or measuredchanges in the nutritional, organoleptic, and/or aesthetic value ofnutritional substances can play a role in updating ΔN information.

For example, laboratory experiments can be performed on bananas todetermine effect on or change in nutritional, organoleptic, and/oraesthetic value, or ΔN, for a variety of environmental conditionsbananas may be exposed to during packaging and shipment in preservationmodule 300. Using this experimental data, tables and/or algorithms couldbe developed which would predict the level of change of nutritional,organoleptic, and/or aesthetic values, or ΔN, for a particular bananabased upon information collected regarding the environmental conditionsto which the banana was exposed during its time in preservation module300. While the ultimate goal for nutritional substance supply system 10would be the actual measurement of nutritional, organoleptic, and/oraesthetic values to determine ΔN, use of derived nutritional,organoleptic, and/or aesthetic values from experimental data todetermine ΔN would allow improved logistics planning because it providesthe ability to prospectively estimate changes to nutritional,organoleptic, and/or aesthetic values, or ΔN, and because it allows moreaccurate tracking of changes to nutritional, organoleptic, and/oraesthetic values, or ΔN, while technology and systems are put in placeto allow actual measurement.

FIG. 3 shows an embodiment of transformation module 400 of the presentinvention. Transformation module 400 includes transformer 410, whichacts upon nutritional substance 420, and information transmission module430. When transformer 410 receives a nutritional substance 420,information transmission module 430 also receives, or retrievesinformation about the particular nutritional substance 420 that is to betransformed. This information can include creation information,preservation information, packaging information, shipping information,and possibly previous transformation information. After nutritionalsubstance 420 has been transformed by transformer 410, such informationis passed along with the transformed nutritional substance 420 by theinformation transmission module 430.

For example, sweet corn that arrives for processing by transformer 410has origination information associated with it, including the cornvariety, where it was planted, when it was planted, when it was picked,the soil it was grown in, the water used for irrigation, and thefertilizers and pesticides that were used during its growth. There mayalso be information on nutritional and/or organoleptic and/or aestheticvalues of the corn when it was preserved for shipment. This informationmay be stored in the labeling of the corn. However, it may be stored ina database maintained by the grower, shipper, or the nutritionalsubstances industry, also referred to herein as a dynamic nutritionalvalue database. Such information could be accessed by means oftelecommunications systems, such as wireless telecommunication systems.

Additionally, the corn may have information associated with it regardinghow it was preserved for shipment from the farm to transformation module400. Such information may include historical information on theenvironment exterior the container it was shipped in, internalconditions of the container and actual information about the corn duringthe shipment. Additionally, if the preservation system acted upon suchinformation in preserving the corn, information about the preservationmeasures may also be available. Such information may be stored in thepreservation system. However, it may be stored in a database maintainedby the grower, shipper, or the nutritional substances industry, alsoreferred to herein as a dynamic nutritional value database. Suchinformation could be accessed by means of telecommunications systems,such as wireless telecommunication systems.

In the example where the nutritional substance 420 is corn, transformer410 removes the husk and the silk from the corn. It then separates thekernels from the cob, washes the kernels, and cooks them. Finally,transformer 410 packages the cooked corn in a can and labels the can.The label on the can may contain all the information provided toinformation transmission module 430. Preferably, this information isreferenced by a dynamic encode or tag, herein referred to as a dynamicinformation identifier, which identifies the information regarding thecorn in the can that is being transmitted by information transmissionmodule 430.

In practice, information transmission module 430 would receive theinformation regarding the nutritional substance 420 from a database thatis being used to track the corn during its journey from the farm to theconsumer. When transformer 410 transforms nutritional substance 420,information transmission module 430 retrieves the appropriateinformation from the database and transmits it to another database.Alternatively, the information retrieved by transmission module 430would be transmitted back to the original database, noting that thetransformation had occurred. Preferably, the information regarding thecorn retrieved by transmission module 430 would simply be appended withthe information that the transformation had occurred. Such databases areindividually and collectively referred to herein as a dynamicnutritional value database.

If the nutritional substance 420 can no longer be tracked by thereference information or dynamic information identifier that accompaniedthe nutritional substance from the creator, then new referenceinformation or a new dynamic information identifier may be created. Forexample, if the corn is combined with lima beans in the transformer 410,to make succotash, then the information for each may be combined andassigned a new reference number or a new dynamic information identifier.Preferably, a new entry is created in the dynamic nutritional valuedatabase, with references to the information related to the corn and theinformation related to the lima beans.

FIG. 4 shows an embodiment of transformation module 400 of the presentinvention. Transformation module 400 includes transformer 410, whichacts upon nutritional substance 420, and information transmission module430. When transformer 410 receives a nutritional substance 420,information transmission module 430 also receives, or retrievesinformation about the particular nutritional substance 420 that is to betransformed. This information can include creation information,packaging information, shipping information, and possibly previoustransformation information. After nutritional substance 420 has beentransformed by transformer 410, such information is passed along withthe transformed nutritional substance 420 by the informationtransmission module 430, along with specific information relating to thetransformation done by transformer 410.

For example, sweet corn that arrives for processing by transformer 410has origination information associated with it, including the cornvariety, where it was planted, when it was planted, when it was picked,the soil it was grown in, the water used for irrigation, and thefertilizers and pesticides that were used during its growth. There mayalso be information on nutritional, organoleptic and aesthetic values ofthe corn when it was preserved for shipment. This information may bestored in the labeling of the corn. However, it may be stored in adynamic nutritional value database maintained by the grower, shipper, orthe nutritional substances industry. Such information could be accessedby telecommunications systems, such as wireless telecommunicationsystems.

Additionally, the corn may have information associated with it regardinghow it was preserved for shipment from the farm to transformation module400. Such information may include historical information on theenvironment exterior the container it was shipped in, internalconditions of the container and actual information about the corn duringthe shipment. Additionally, if the preservation system acted upon suchinformation in preserving the corn, information about the preservationmeasures may also be available. Such information may be stored in thepreservation system. However, it may be stored in a dynamic nutritionalvalue database maintained by the grower, shipper, or the nutritionalsubstances industry. Such information could be accessed by means oftelecommunications systems, such as wireless telecommunication systems.

In the example where the nutritional substance 420 is corn, transformer410 removes the husk and the silk from the corn. It then separates thekernels from the cob, washes the kernels, and cooks them. Finally,transformer 410 packages the cooked corn in a can and labels the can.

During this transformation of the nutritional substance 420 bytransformer 410, information about the transformation can be captured bytransformer 410 and sent to information transmission module 430. Thisinformation can include how the transformation was accomplished;including information on the transformer used, the recipe implemented bytransformer 410, and the settings for transformer 410 when thetransformation occurred. Additionally, any information created duringthe transformation by transformer 410 can be sent to the informationtransmission module 430. This could include measured information, suchas the actual cooking temperature, length of time of each of the steps,or weight or volume measurements. Additionally, this information couldinclude measured aesthetic, organoleptic and nutritional values.

The label on the can may contain all the information provided toinformation transmission module 430. Preferably, this information isreferenced by a dynamic information identifier which identifies theinformation regarding the corn in the can that is being transmitted byinformation transmission module 430.

In practice, information transmission module 430 would receive theinformation regarding the nutritional substance 420 from a database thatis being used to track the corn during its journey from the farm to theconsumer. When transformer 410 transforms nutritional substance 420,information transmission module 430 retrieves the appropriateinformation from the database, appends it with the information fromtransformer 410 regarding the transformation, and transmits it toanother database. Alternatively, such information would be transmittedback to the original database, including the transformation information.Preferably, the information regarding the corn would simply be appendedwith the information from transformer 410 about the transformation. Suchdatabases are individually and collectively referred to herein as adynamic nutritional value database.

If the nutritional substance 420 can no longer be tracked by thereference information or a dynamic information identifier thataccompanied the nutritional substance from the creator, then newreference information or a new dynamic information identifier may becreated. For example, if the corn is combined with lima beans in thetransformer 410, to make succotash, then the information for each may becombined and assigned a new reference number or a new dynamicinformation identifier. Preferably, a new entry is created in thedynamic nutritional value database, with references to the informationrelated to the corn and the information related to the lima beans.

FIG. 5 shows an embodiment of transformation module 400 of the presentinvention. Transformation module 400 includes transformer 410, whichacts upon nutritional substance 420, and information transmission module430. When transformer 410 receives a nutritional substance 420,information transmission module 430 also receives, or retrievesinformation about the particular nutritional substance 420 that is to betransformed. This information can include creation information,packaging information, shipping information, and possibly previoustransformation information. This information is used by transformer 410to dynamically modify the transformation, the process referred to hereinas adaptive transformation. After nutritional substance 420 has beentransformed by transformer 410, such information is passed along withthe transformed nutritional substance 420 by the informationtransmission module 430, along with specific information relating to theadaptive transformation done by transformer 410.

For example, sweet corn that arrives for processing by transformer 410has origination information associated with it, including the cornvariety, where it was planted, when it was planted, when it was picked,the soil it was grown in, the water used for irrigation, and thefertilizers and pesticides that were used during its growth. There mayalso be source information on nutritional, organoleptic and aestheticvalues of the corn when it was preserved for shipment. This informationmay be stored in the labeling of the corn. However, it may be stored ina dynamic nutritional value database maintained by the grower, shipper,or the nutritional substances industry. Such information could beaccessed by telecommunications systems, such as wirelesstelecommunication systems.

Additionally, the corn may have information associated with it regardinghow it was preserved for shipment from the farm to transformation module400. Such information may include historical information on theenvironment exterior the container it was shipped in, internalconditions of the container and actual information about the corn duringthe shipment. Additionally, if the preservation system acted upon suchinformation in preserving the corn, information about the preservationmeasures may also be available. Such information may be stored in thepreservation system. However, it may be stored in a database maintainedby the grower, shipper, or the nutritional substances industry, alsoreferred to herein as a dynamic nutritional value database. Suchinformation could be accessed by means of telecommunications systems,such as wireless telecommunication systems.

Any, or all, of this information can be provided to transformer 410 byinformation transmission module 430. Transformer 410 can dynamicallymodify its transformation of nutritional substance 420 in response tosuch information to adaptively transform the nutritional substance inorder to preserver or improve or minimize the degradation of thenutritional, organoleptic and/or aesthetic values of nutritionalsubstance 420.

In the example where the nutritional substance 420 is corn, transformer410 removes the husk and the silk from the corn. It then separates thekernels from the cob, washes the kernels, and cooks them. In response tothe information provided by information transmission module 430,transformer can dynamically modify the cooking temperature and time. Forexample, if transformer 410 receives information that indicates that thecorn is low in certain desirable nutrients, it might lower the cookingtemperature and time to preserve those nutrients, thus achieving a moredesirable nutritional value related to those specific nutrients in thetransformed nutritional substance. However, if transformer 410 receivesinformation that indicates that the corn is high in tough starches, itmight raise the cooking temperature and time to soften the corn, thusachieving a more desirable organoleptic value related to the texture ofthe transformed nutritional substance. Finally, transformer 410 packagesthe cooked corn in a can and labels the can.

Additionally, transformer 410 can modify its transformation of thenutritional substance in response to measured attributes of theparticular nutritional substance 420 being transformed. For example,transformer 410 can measure the color of the corn to be processed, andin response make adjustment to the transformation to preserve or enhancethe color of the transformed corn, thus achieving a more desirableaesthetic value related to the appearance of the transformed nutritionalsubstance.

During this adaptive transformation of the nutritional substance 420 bytransformer 410, information about the transformation can be captured bytransformer 410 and sent to information transmission module 430. Thisinformation can include how the transformation was accomplished;including information on any dynamic transformation modifications inresponse to information about the particular nutritional substance to betransformed, the recipe implemented by transformer 410, and the settingsfor transformer 410 when the transformation occurred. Additionally, anyinformation created during the transformation by transformer 410 can besent to the information transmission module 430. This could includemeasured information, such as the actual cooking temperature, length oftime of each of the steps. Additionally, this information could includemeasured organoleptic, aesthetic, and nutritional information, weight,volume, and physical dimension.

The label on the packaging may contain all the information provided toinformation transmission module 430. Preferably, this information isreferenced by a dynamic information identifier which identifies theinformation regarding the nutritional substance in the packaging that isbeing transmitted by information transmission module 430.

In practice, information transmission module 430 would utilize a dynamicinformation identifier provided with the nutritional substance toretrieve and receive the information regarding the nutritional substance420 from a database that is being used to track the corn during itsjourney from the farm to the consumer. When transformer 410 transformsnutritional substance 420, information transmission module 430 retrievesthe appropriate information from the database, appends it with theinformation from transformer 410 regarding the transformation, andtransmits it to another database. Alternatively, such information wouldbe transmitted back to the original database, including thetransformation information. Preferably, the information regarding thecorn would simply be appended with the information from transformer 410about the transformation. Such databases are individually andcollectively referred to herein as a dynamic nutritional value database

If the nutritional substance 420 can no longer be tracked by thereference information or dynamic information identifier that accompaniedthe nutritional substance from the creator, then new referenceinformation or a new dynamic information identifier may be created. Forexample, if the corn is combined with lima beans in the transformer 410,to make succotash, then the information for each may be combined andassigned a new reference number or a new dynamic information identifier.Preferably, a new entry is created in the dynamic nutritional valuedatabase, with references to the information related to the corn and theinformation related to the lima beans.

FIG. 6 shows an embodiment of conditioning module. Conditioner system510 receives nutritional substance 520 for conditioning before it isdelivered to consumer 540. Controller 530 is operably connected toconditioner system 510. In fact, controller 530 may be integrated withinconditioner system 510, although in FIG. 6, it is shown as a separatedevice. When conditioner system 510 receives nutritional substance 520for conditioning, nutritional substance reader 590 either receivesinformation regarding nutritional substance 520 and provides it tocontroller 530, which is the case if the nutritional substance 520contains a label which includes the information about nutritionalsubstance 520, and/or the nutritional substance reader 590 receivesreference information, such as a dynamic information identifier, andprovides it to controller 530, allowing retrieval of the informationabout nutritional substance 520 from nutritional substance database 550,which is the case when the nutritional substance is associated with, orprovided with, a dynamic information identifier. In the case wherenutritional substance 520 contains a label which includes informationabout nutritional substance 520, nutritional substance reader 590 readsthis information, provides it to controller 530 and makes it availableto consumer 540 by means of consumer interface 560.

In an embodiment of the present invention, conditioner system 510comprises conditioner 570. Conditioner 570 is a conditioning apparatuswhich can perform a number of operations on nutritional substance 520,separately and/or at the same time. For example, conditioner 570 couldbe a combination microwave oven, convection oven, grill, andconventional oven. Controller 530 could operate conditioner 570 toexecute a sequence of conditioning cycles, also referred to herein as aconditioning protocol, conditioning sequence, conditioning instructions,conditioning parameters, or preparation sequence, on nutritionalsubstance 520 to complete its conditioning.

For example, if nutritional substance 520 is a whole frozen turkey to beprepared for dinner, consumer 540 would place the turkey in conditioner570, the combination cooking unit suggested above. Controller 530 wouldreceive and/or create a conditioning protocol. Such a conditioningprotocol could be read by nutritional substance reader 590 directly froma tag or label on nutritional substance 520 such as, but not limited to,an RFID tag, a QR code printed on a label, or printed text on a label.Alternatively, a protocol of conditioning cycles could be obtained fromnutritional substance database 550 through reference information such asa dynamic information identifier, obtained by nutritional substancereader 590 from nutritional substance 520. For example, a label on theturkey could be read by nutritional substance reader 590, providingreference information for the turkey, such as a dynamic informationidentifier, which controller 530 uses to obtain an adaptive conditioningprotocol for the turkey from nutritional substance database 550. Theadaptive conditioning protocol obtained is at least partially responsiveto ΔN information regarding the frozen turkey, whether obtained directlyfrom a tag or label provided with the frozen turkey or obtained byreference to a dynamic information identifier provided with the frozenturkey.

In a preferred embodiment, the conditioning protocol or parametersobtained are intended to optimize nutritional, organoleptic, oraesthetic values chosen and targeted by the transformer of thenutritional substance during transformation, preferably followingtransformation. The transformer of such a nutritional substance has theability to market nutritional substances that will consistently attainnutritional, organoleptic, or aesthetic values that provide highperceived value to consumers. It is a further advantage to the consumersthat such a nutritional substance requires only the ability to follow asimple conditioning protocol to achieve optimal results, rather thatrequiring high skill levels, professional or highly specialized cookingequipment, and a large investment of time.

An example of such a conditioning protocol for a frozen turkey could beto operate conditioner 570, the combination cooking unit in thefollowing fashion. First, controller 530 instructs conditioner 570 touse the microwave function of the combination cooking unit to defrostthe turkey according to the conditioning protocol obtained for theturkey, for instance from nutritional substance database 550, andpossibly according to information provided by conditioner 570, such asinformation from attribute sensors regarding, for instance, the weight,volume, and/or temperature of the turkey, regarding the defrostingprocess as measured by attribute sensors, or information related to ΔNvalues provided by attribute sensors before or during defrosting.Following defrosting of the turkey, controller 530 next instructs thecombination cooking unit to operate as a convection oven to cook theturkey, according to the conditioning protocol obtained for the turkey,for a sufficient length of time so as to ensure that the turkey reachesthe proper internal temperature to meet safety requirements, and tomaximize organoleptic and/or nutritional properties. Alternatively, oradditionally, the conditioning protocol obtained for the turkey fromnutritional substance database 550 may depend upon a direct measurementof the internal temperature of the turkey, or a combination of measuredtemperature and time, or information related to ΔN values provided byattribute sensors before or during conditioning. Following theconvection oven cooking of the turkey, controller 530 could instruct thecombination cooking unit to grill the turkey, according to theconditioning protocol obtained for the turkey, for a sufficient periodof time to create a desirable golden and crispy skin. Alternatively, oradditionally, the conditioning protocol obtained for the turkey fromnutritional substance database 550 may depend upon a direct measurementby attribute sensors of a ΔN value, such as an optical sensor to senseexternal aesthetic values of the turkey such as color, change of color,texture, or change of texture. Alternatively, or additionally, theconditioning protocol obtained for the turkey may depend upon a directmeasurement by an infrared sensor of the surface temperature of theturkey, or a combination of time, measured aesthetic values, and/ormeasured surface temperature and/or measured ΔN information. Finally,controller 530 could instruct the combination cooking unit to use allthree cooking functions at the same time to prepare the turkey foroptimal consumption according to the conditioning protocol obtained forthe turkey.

Alternatively, conditioner system 510 could be composed of a pluralityof conditioners 570. While an automated system for moving a nutritionalsubstance between such conditioners would be optimal, conditioner system510 could be operated manually by consumer 540 from instructionsregarding an adaptive conditioning protocol provided by the controller530 to consumer interface 560. In this embodiment, controller 530 couldprovide consumer 540 with instructions as to where to move the turkeyafter each step in the adaptive conditioning protocol. In this example,controller 530 instructs consumer 540 through consumer interface 560 tofirst place the frozen turkey in conditioner 570, a microwave oven.Controller 530 instructs the microwave oven to defrost the turkey basedon information possibly provided by nutritional substance reader 590,nutritional substance database 550 and/or attribute sensors of theconditioner 570. Upon completion of defrosting by the microwave oven,controller 530 could instruct consumer 540 through interface 560 to movethe defrosted turkey from the microwave oven to another conditioner 570,a convection oven. Controller 530 would operate the convection oven tocook the turkey for a sufficient length of time so as to ensure that theturkey reaches the proper internal temperature to meet safetyrequirements, and to maximize organoleptic and/or nutritionalproperties. Finally, following the cooking cycle in the convection oven,controller 530 could instruct consumer 540 through consumer interface560 to move the turkey from the convection oven to another conditioner570, a grill. Controller 530 would operate the grill so as to grill theturkey for a sufficient period of time to create a desirable golden andcrispy skin.

Alternatively, conditioner system 510 could be composed of a pluralityof conditioners 570; and a consumer 540 (which would include anyindividuals preparing the turkey for consumption), fulfilling additionalconditioner roles, as will be explained. While an automated system formoving a nutritional substance between such conditioners would beoptimal, conditioner system 510 could be operated manually by consumer540 from instructions regarding an adaptive conditioning protocolprovided by a consumer interface 560, which in this case could be ahandheld device such as a cellular phone, smartphone, tablet computer,PDA, or any other device useful for reading an adaptive conditioningprotocol directly from a tag or label provided with the turkey, orreading a dynamic information identifier provided with the turkey andcommunicating with nutritional substance database 550, and the consumer540. The handheld device therefor fulfills the role of nutritionalsubstance reader 590 and controller 530. For example, the consumer 540can utilize a camera function of the handheld device to read a barcode,or QR code, on or associated with the turkey, wherein the code providesa dynamic information identifier. The handheld device can then use thedynamic information identifier to retrieve information regarding theturkey from nutritional substance database 550. In this example,consumer 540 utilizes the handheld device to read a barcode (or anyother readable code) on the turkey, the barcode containing a dynamicinformation identifier associated with information regarding the turkeywithin the nutritional substance database 550, including ΔN informationreferenced to the dynamic information identifier. The consumer 540 usesthe handheld device to retrieve and review an adaptive conditioningprotocol from nutritional substance database 550, and is accordinglyinstructed as to where to move the turkey for each step in the adaptiveconditioning protocol and further instructed on the correspondingconditioning parameters required for each step of the adaptiveconditioning protocol. In this example, consumer 540 retrieves andreviews an adaptive conditioning protocol from nutritional substancedatabase 550 using the handheld device and is instructed to first placethe frozen turkey in conditioner 570, a microwave oven, and furtherinstructed on the adaptive conditioning parameters for the microwaveoven to defrost the turkey based. Consumer 540 is instructed that uponcompletion of defrosting by the microwave oven, the turkey is to bemoved to another conditioner 570, a convection oven. Consumer 540 isfurther instructed on the adaptive conditioning parameters for theconvection oven to cook the turkey for a sufficient length of time so asto ensure that the turkey reaches the proper internal temperature tomeet safety requirements, and to maximize organoleptic and/ornutritional properties. Finally, consumer 540 is instructed that uponcompletion of cooking by the convection oven, the turkey is to be movedto another conditioner 570, a grill, and further instructed on theadaptive conditioning parameters for the grill so as to grill the turkeyfor a sufficient period of time to create a desirable golden and crispyskin.

In the case where conditioner system 510 is a plurality of conditioners570, it would also be possible for controller 530 to manage conditioners570 within conditioner system 510 so as to produce a complete meal. Forexample, controller 530 could select conditioning protocols which wouldmaximize the use of each conditioner 570. For example, in a mealcomprising a turkey, home baked bread, and acorn squash, controller 530could stage and operate the microwave oven, convection oven, and grillto minimize preparation time for the meal by determining which itemshould be cooked in which conditioner 570, in which order, to maximizeusage of each conditioner 570 in conditioning system 510. In thisexample, while the turkey is being defrosted in the microwave oven,controller 530 could instruct consumer 540 through interface 560 toplace the bread dough in the convection oven and the acorn squash on thegrill. Following the defrosting of the turkey, when the turkey is movedto the convection oven, which finished baking the bread, the bread couldbe moved to the grill for browning, and the acorn squash could be movedto microwave oven to keep warm, until the entire meal is ready.

In another example, nutritional substance 520 is a ready-to-eat frozendinner which needs to be heated by conditioner system 510. Nutritionalsubstance reader 590 would read a label on nutritional substance 520thereby receiving information regarding nutritional substance 520, andthen provide the information to controller 530. This information couldinclude creation information as to the creation of the variouscomponents which constitute the ready-to-eat dinner. This informationcould include information about where and how the corn in theready-to-eat dinner was grown, including the corn seed used, where itwas planted, how it was planted, how it was irrigated, when it waspicked, and information on fertilizers and pesticides used during itsgrowth. Additionally, this information could include the cattle lineage,health, immunization, dietary supplements that were fed to the cattlethat was slaughtered to obtain the beef in the ready-to-eat dinner.

The information from a label on nutritional substance 520 could alsoinclude information on how the components were preserved for shipmentfrom the farm or slaughterhouse on their path to the nutritionalsubstance transformer who prepared the ready-to-eat dinner. Additionalinformation could include how the nutritional substance transformertransformed the components into the ready-to-eat dinner, such as recipeused, additives to the dinner, and actual measured conditions during thetransformation into the ready-to-eat dinner.

While such information could be stored on a label located on thepackaging for nutritional substance 520 so as to be read by nutritionalsubstance reader 590, provided to controller 530, and provided toconsumer interface 560 for display to consumer 540, preferably, thelabel on the nutritional substance package includes referenceinformation, such as a dynamic information identifier, which is read bynutritional substance reader 590 and provided to controller 530 thatallows controller 530 to retrieve the information about nutritionalsubstance 520 from nutritional substance database 550, including ΔNinformation referenced to the dynamic information identifier. Further,linking consumer feedback and updates regarding observed or measuredchanges in the nutritional, organoleptic, and/or aesthetic values ofnutritional substances would provide for virtually real time updates ofΔN information from the actual consumer.

Nutritional substance database 550 could be a database maintained by thetransformer of nutritional substance 520 for access by consumers of suchnutritional substance 520 to track or estimate changes in thenutritional, organoleptic, and/or aesthetic values of those nutritionalsubstances, as well as any other information about the nutritionalsubstance that can be tracked, including but not limited to the examplespreviously described. However, preferably, nutritional substancedatabase 550 is a database within information module 100 that ismaintained by the nutritional substance industry for all suchinformation regarding nutritional substances grown, raised, preserved,transformed, conditioned and consumed by consumer 540, in which case itis the database contained within information module 100 and alsoreferred to herein as a dynamic nutritional value database.

In an alternate embodiment of the present invention, controller 530, inaddition to providing information regarding nutritional substance 520 toconsumer 540, also receives information from conditioner system 510 onhow nutritional substance 520 was conditioned. Attribute sensors ofconditioner system 510 may measure or sense information aboutnutritional substance 520 before or during its conditioning byconditioner system 510, including information related to a nutritional,organoleptic, or aesthetic value of the nutritional substance, or a ΔN,and provide such information to controller 530, so that such informationcould also be provided to consumer 540, via consumer interface 560. Suchsensed information may further be required and utilized by an adaptiveconditioning protocol.

In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, controller 530organizes and correlates the information it receives regardingnutritional substance 520 from the various sources of such information,including information obtained directly from the nutritional substance,information obtained from nutritional substance database 550, andinformation obtained from attribute sensors of the conditioner system510, and presents such information through consumer interface 560 toconsumer 540 in a manner useful to consumer 540. For example, suchinformation may be provided in a manner that assists consumer 540 inunderstanding how nutritional substance 520 meets consumer's 540nutritional needs before or after conditioning, or how it meets theconsumer's needs based on various proposed conditioning parameters. Itcould organize information regarding nutritional substance 520 to trackconsumer's 540 weight loss program. Controller 530 could have access to,or maintain, information regarding consumer 540, so as to track andassist consumer 540 in meeting their specific nutritional needs.

In another embodiment of the present invention conditioner system 510could be a plurality of conditioner devices which can be selectivelyoperated by controller 530 to prepare nutritional substance 520.Conditioner system 510 can be either a single conditioning device, suchas a microwave oven, toaster oven, conventional oven, toaster, blender,steamer, stovetop, or may be human cook interacting with a conditioningdevice. Conditioner system 510 may be a plurality of conditioners 570.In the case where a plurality of conditioners 570 comprise conditionersystem 510, nutritional substance 520 may be manually or automaticallytransferred between conditioners 570 for eventual transfer to consumer540.

Nutritional substance reader 590 may be an automatic reader such as abarcode reader, QR code reader, or RFID sensor which receivesinformation directly from nutritional substance 520, or receives areference code from nutritional substance 520, such as a dynamicinformation identifier, and provides this information to controller 530.Nutritional substance reader 590 might also be a manual entry systemwhere the reference code, such as a dynamic information identifierassociated with, or provided with the nutritional substance 520, ismanually entered into nutritional substance reader 590 for controller530.

Nutritional substance database 550 could be a flat database, relationaldatabase or, preferably, a multi-dimensional database. Nutritionalsubstance database 550 could be local but, preferably, it would belocated remotely, such as on the internet, and accessed via atelecommunication system, such as a wireless telecommunication system.Controller 530 can be implemented using a computing device, such as amicro-controller, micro-processor, personal computer, or tabletcomputer. Controller 530 could be integrated to include nutritionalsubstance reader 590, consumer interface 560, and/or nutritionalsubstance database 550. Additionally, controller 530 may be integratedin conditioner system 510, including integration into conditioner 570.

It is important to note that while FIGS. 6-7 of various embodiments ofthe present invention show nutritional substance database 550 as part ofthe conditioner module 500, they are in no way limited to thisinterpretation. It is understood that this convention is only one way ofillustrating the inventions described herein, and it is furtherunderstood that this is in no way limiting to the scope of the presentinvention. The same is understood for recipe database 555, consumerdatabase 580, and nutritional substance industry database 558. Forexample, any of nutritional substance database 550, recipe database 555,consumer database 580, and nutritional substance industry database 558can be contained within information module 100 or within conditionermodule 500.

Consumer interface 560 can be implemented as a display device mounted oncontroller 530, conditioner system 510, or conditioner 570. However,consumer interface 560 is preferably a tablet computer, personalcomputer, personal assistant, or smartphone, running appropriatesoftware, such as an application.

While conditioner module 500 can be located in the consumer's home,conditioner module 500 may be located at a restaurant or other foodservice establishment for use in preparing nutritional substances 520for consumers who patronize such an establishment. Additionally,conditioner module 500 could be located at a nutritional substanceseller such as a grocery store or health food store for preparation ofnutritional substances 520 purchased by consumers at such anestablishment. It could be foreseen that conditioner modules 500 couldbecome standalone businesses where consumers select nutritionalsubstances for preparation at the establishment or removal from theestablishment for consumption elsewhere.

Additionally, controller 530 uses nutritional substance informationretrieved by nutritional substance reader 590 from nutritional substance520, or retrieved from nutritional substance database 550 usingreference information obtained by nutritional substance reader 590 fromnutritional substance 520, to dynamically modify the operation ofconditioner system 510 to maintain or optimize nutritional,organoleptic, and aesthetic properties of nutritional substance 520. Forexample, if the nutritional substance 520 is a ready-to-eat dinner,controller 530 could modify the instructions to conditioner system 530in response to source and ΔN information regarding corn used in theready-to-eat dinner such that a temperature and cooking duration can bemodified to affect the nutritional, organoleptic, or aestheticproperties of the corn. Further, the dynamically modified conditioningparameters, also referred to herein as adaptive conditioning parametersor an adaptive conditioning protocol, may be directly intended tooptimize a nutritional, organoleptic, or aesthetic property of the corntargeted by the transformer of the ready-to-eat dinner during orfollowing transformation.

In an embodiment of the present invention, the label on nutritionalsubstance 520 could contain the conditioning instructions, also referredto herein as a conditioning protocol, for nutritional substance 520, ora reference, such as a dynamic information identifier, to suchconditioning instructions in nutritional substance database 550. Inoperation, this would allow controller 530 to obtain information aboutnutritional substance 520 on how to dynamically operate conditionersystem 510 to condition nutritional substance 520, without consumerintervention. Additionally, adaptive conditioning instructions fornutritional substance 520 could be provided for a variety of differentconditioner systems 510, or conditioners 570, and controller couldselect the proper adaptive conditioning instructions. The dynamicoperation of conditioner system 510 may be directly intended to optimizea nutritional, organoleptic, or aesthetic property of the nutritionalsubstance targeted by the transformer of the nutritional substanceduring or following transformation. In such a case, the operation ofconditioner system 510 is according to adaptive conditioning parametersdetermined by the transformer and responsive to the transformer'sknowledge of post transformation residual nutritional, organoleptic, oraesthetic values. The transformer's knowledge of post transformationresidual nutritional, organoleptic, or aesthetic values is preferablydetermined by measurements made during or at completion oftransformation, such as data obtained from nutritional substanceattribute sensors.

In an embodiment, information for the adaptive conditioning of anutritional substance, responsive to a post transformation residualnutritional, organoleptic, or aesthetic value of the nutritionalsubstance or component nutritional substances thereof, as measured bythe transformer, is provided by the transformer with the nutritionalsubstance. Such adaptive conditioning information may be provided in anyknown manner, to be directly read by a reader of the conditioningmodule, including, but not limited to a dedicated part of a conditioningappliance, a smartphone, or a consumer. Labeling or tags provided withthe nutritional substance, such as, but not limited to, QR codes, RFIDtags, or written language instructions, could directly communicate theadaptive conditioning information to a reader of the conditioningmodule, such as an optical scanner, a RFID reader, or a consumer,respectively. Such adaptive conditioning information would comprise oneor more adaptive conditioning sequences responsive to the posttransformation residual nutritional, organoleptic, or aesthetic valueand further responsive to, and unique to, one or more target postconditioning residual nutritional, organoleptic, or aesthetic values.The one or more target post conditioning residual values arepredetermined by the transformer and communicated to the consumer asoptions, such as through written language instructions provided with thenutritional substance, or through a consumer interface of theconditioning module, including, but not limited to, the screen of aconditioning appliance or smartphone. The post adaptive conditioningresidual values of a transformed nutritional substance may be determinedby the transformer in any known fashion, including, but not limited to,knowledge of a post transformation nutritional, organoleptic, oraesthetic value and estimation of a ΔN associated with specific adaptiveconditioning sequences based on historical data regarding ΔNs, knowledgeof a post transformation nutritional, organoleptic, or aesthetic valueand calculation of a ΔN associated with specific adaptive conditioningsequences based on algorithms developed using historical data regardingΔNs, or by measurement of the post conditioning residual value afterconditioning by specific adaptive conditioning sequences, such as in thetransformer's test kitchen or laboratory. Upon selection of the desiredoption, the corresponding adaptive conditioning sequence can be providedto the controller of the conditioning module. The adaptive conditioningsequence can be entered into the controller of the conditioningappliance manually by the consumer, or might be entered directly by thereader of the conditioning appliance, or by a smartphone communicatingin a wired or wireless fashion with the conditioning appliance.

In another embodiment, such adaptive conditioning information may beprovided by reference to a unique identifier provided with thenutritional substance, wherein the unique identifier may be read by areader of the conditioning module, including, but not limited to adedicated part of a conditioning appliance or a smartphone. Labeling ortags provided with the nutritional substance, such as, but not limitedto, QR codes, RFID tags, or written language instructions, couldcommunicate the unique identifier referenced to the adaptiveconditioning information to a reader of the conditioning module, such asan optical scanner for scanning a QR code or a RFID reader for scanninga RFID tag. The unique identifier could then be used to retrieve theadaptive conditioning information referenced to it from an adaptiveconditioning database. Such a database might be an independent databasemaintained by the transformer of the nutritional substance or maintainedby the nutritional substance industry, and may further be part of thenutritional substance industry database 558 or a part of any databasewithin the nutritional substance industry database 558. The adaptiveconditioning information would comprise one or more adaptiveconditioning sequences responsive to the post transformation residualnutritional, organoleptic, or aesthetic value and further responsive to,and unique to, one or more target post conditioning residualnutritional, organoleptic, or aesthetic values. The one or more targetpost conditioning residual values are predetermined by the transformerand communicated to the consumer as options, such as through a consumerinterface of the conditioning module, including, but not limited to, thescreen of a conditioning appliance or smartphone. The post conditioningresidual values of a transformed nutritional substance may be determinedby the transformer in any known fashion, including, but not limited to,knowledge of a post transformation nutritional, organoleptic, oraesthetic value and estimation of a ΔN associated with specific adaptiveconditioning sequences based on historical data regarding ΔNs, knowledgeof a post transformation nutritional, organoleptic, or aesthetic valueand calculation of a ΔN associated with specific adaptive conditioningsequences based on algorithms developed using historical data regardingΔNs, or by measurement of the post conditioning residual value afterconditioning by specific adaptive conditioning sequences, such as in thetransformer's test kitchen or laboratory. Upon selection of the desiredoption, the corresponding adaptive conditioning sequence can be providedto the controller of the conditioning module. The adaptive conditioningsequence can be entered into the controller of the conditioningappliance manually by the consumer, or might be entered directly by thereader of the conditioning appliance, or by a smartphone communicatingin a wired or wireless fashion with the conditioning appliance.

Regardless of whether the adaptive conditioning information is provideddirectly by the nutritional substance or provided by reference to aunique identifier provided with the nutritional substance, theconditioning appliance may be provided with nutritional substanceattribute sensors and the adaptive conditioning sequence may requirefeedback from some or all of the attribute sensors, in which case thenutritional substance is adaptively conditioned responsive to posttransformation nutritional, organoleptic, or aesthetic values determinedby the transformer, target post conditioning nutritional, organoleptic,or aesthetic values determined by the transformer and further selectedby the consumer, and feedback from nutritional substance attributesensors provided before or during conditioning. Such conditioningappliances and adaptive conditioning sequences may be particularlyeffective in achieving the same desired post conditioning resultsregarding residual nutritional, organoleptic, or aesthetic value fromdifferent conditioning appliances, different conditioning appliancemodel numbers, and conditioning appliances from different manufacturers.

In an embodiment of the present invention, nutritional substance reader590 and/or attribute sensors of conditioner system 510 measure or senseinformation about the current state of nutritional substance 520,particularly about a nutritional, organoleptic, or aesthetic value, andprovide such information to controller 530 before or during conditioningto allow controller 530 to dynamically modify operation of conditionersystem 510.

In an embodiment, adaptive conditioning of a transformed nutritionalsubstance is facilitated using an information storage means providingdynamic reference to one or more adaptive conditioning sequences for thetransformed nutritional substance. The information storage meansproviding dynamic reference to the one or more adaptive conditioningsequences may include a tag or label provided with the transformednutritional substance and containing the one or more adaptiveconditioning sequences in any readable format, such as, but not limitedto, text, optically readable code, RFID readable code, magneticallyreadable code, and any other near field readable code, wherein the oneor more adaptive conditioning sequences may be retrieved directly fromthe tag or label. Alternatively, the information storage means providingdynamic reference to the one or more adaptive conditioning sequences mayinclude a database containing the one or more adaptive conditioningsequences referenced to a unique identifier and further includeproviding the transformed nutritional substance with a tag or labelcontaining the unique identifier in any readable format, such as, butnot limited to, text, optically readable code, RFID readable code,magnetically readable code, and any other near field readable code.

In a further embodiment, the one or more adaptive conditioning sequencesand a nutritional or organoleptic value associated with each of the oneor more adaptive conditioning sequences, are determined by thetransformer of the transformed nutritional substance. Such determinationmay be made by the transformer experimentally implementing the one ormore adaptive conditioning sequences on the transformed nutritionalsubstance or representative samples of the transformed nutritionalsubstance, and further determining the post conditioning nutritional ororganoleptic value associated with each of the one or more adaptiveconditioning sequences. Alternatively, such determination may be made bythe transformer determining a post transformation nutritional ororganoleptic value for the transformed nutritional substance andcalculating a change in the post transformation nutritional ororganoleptic value associated with specific adaptive conditioningsequences. Calculating the change in the post transformation nutritionalor organoleptic value may be based upon historical data regarding suchchanges, algorithms developed using historical, experimental ortheoretical models for such changes, or any combination thereof.

In a further embodiment, the one or more adaptive conditioning sequencesare enabled by an adaptive conditioning sequence response means. Theadaptive conditioning sequence response means comprises operatingparameters for a conditioner wherein the operating parameters areresponsive to attribute data sensed by attribute sensors of theconditioner during implementation of the adaptive conditioning sequenceon a transformed nutritional substance. It is understood that theoperating parameters may be responsive to the attribute data sensed byattribute sensors of the conditioner during implementation of theadaptive conditioning sequence in any fashion that affects or alters theoperation of the conditioner so as to minimize degradation of, preserve,improve, optimize, or achieve a target post conditioning nutritional ororganoleptic value. It is further understood that the format, structure,and methodology for such operating parameters, particularly operatingparameters responsive to operating feedback, are known to those skilledin control systems utilizing feedback. The adaptive conditioningsequence response means further comprises the attribute data provided byattribute sensors of the conditioner and corresponding to a nutritionalor organoleptic value of the transformed nutritional substance duringimplementation of the one or more adaptive conditioning sequences.

In an additional embodiment of the present invention, consumer 540provides information regarding their needs and/or desires with regard tothe nutritional substance 520 to consumer interface 560. Consumerinterface 560 provides this information to controller 530 so as to allowcontroller 530 to dynamically modify conditioning parameters used byconditioner system 510 in the conditioning of nutritional substance 520,or to request from nutritional substance database 550 dynamicallymodified conditioning parameters to be used by conditioner system 510 inthe conditioning of nutritional substance 520. Consumer's 540 needsand/or desires could include, but are not limited to, nutritionalparameters, taste parameters, or aesthetic parameters, and arepreferably related to desired residual nutritional, organoleptic, oraesthetic values of the nutritional substance. For example, consumer 540may have needs for certain nutrients which are present in nutritionalsubstance 520 prior to conditioning. Controller 530 could modifyoperation of conditioner system 510 so as to preserve such nutrients.For example, conditioner system 500 can cook the nutritional substanceat a lower temperature and/or for a shorter duration so as to minimizenutrient loss. The consumer's 540 needs and/or desires may be related toparticular nutritional, organoleptic, an/or aesthetic values, and mayadditionally be related to other nutritional substance attributes thatare retrievable through the nutritional substance database 550 using adynamic information identifier, such as nutritional substance additives,preservatives, genetic modifications, origins, and traceability.Further, the consumer's needs and/or desires could be part of a consumerprofile provided to the controller 530 through the consumer interface560 or otherwise available to controller 530. The consumer's needsand/or desires could be exclusionary in nature, for example no productsof animal origin, no peanuts or peanut-derived products, no farm raisedproducts, no pork products, no horsemeat products, or no importedproducts. In these cases, the nutritional substance database 550 couldprovide information that would prevent the consumer from preparingand/or consuming products that the consumer cannot, should not, orprefers not to consume.

The consumer's 540 nutritional, organoleptic or aesthetic desires couldinclude how rare or well done they prefer a particular nutritionalsubstance to be prepared. For example, consumer 540 may prefer hisvegetables to be crisp or pasta to be prepared al dente. With suchinformation provided by consumer 540 to controller 530 through consumerinterface 560, controller 530 can dynamically modify operation ofconditioner system 510 responsive to the consumer information andprovide a nutritional substance according to the consumer's desires.

In an embodiment of the present invention, controller 530 receivesinformation regarding the history of nutritional substance 520, currentinformation on nutritional substance 520, including informationregarding a ΔN, and consumer 540 needs or desires, and dynamicallymodifies operation of conditioner system 510 responsive to theinformation so as to provide a nutritional substance according to theconsumer's needs or desires. For example, if nutritional substance 520is a steak, controller 530 would receive reference information, such asa dynamic information identifier, regarding the steak, nutritionalsubstance 520, from nutritional substance reader 590. Controller 530would use this reference information to obtain information about thesteak from nutritional substance database 550, including informationregarding a ΔN. Controller 530 could also receive current informationabout the steak from nutritional substance reader 590 or from attributesensors of the conditioner 510. Additionally, controller 530 couldreceive consumer 540 preferences from consumer interface 560. Finally,controller 530 could receive information from attribute sensors of theconditioner system 510 during the conditioning of the steak, nutritionalsubstance 520. Using some or all of such information, controller 530would dynamically modify the cooking of the steak to preserve, optimize,or enhance organoleptic, nutritional, and aesthetic properties to meetthe consumer's 540 needs. For example, the steak could be cooked slowlyto preserve iron levels within the meat, and also cooked to well-done tomeet consumer's 540 taste.

In a further embodiment, the consumer may provide experience input, suchas through consumer interface 560, regarding his experience andsatisfaction with the adaptively conditioned nutritional substance. Suchexperience input may be stored by controller 530, so that it can beutilized in the future for possible further modification of conditioningparameters for similar nutritional substances. In this way, thecontroller learns how to adapt, or not adapt, conditioning parametersresponsive to the consumer's experience input. For example, the consumerinput through the consumer interface of a toaster oven when placing apiece of fish into the toaster oven may be that he desires the fish tobe “rare” after conditioning. After conditioning, the consumer mayprovide his experience input regarding the conditioned fish through theconsumer interface, such as by selecting a description of theconditioned fish from a screen providing the options of “under cooked”,“rare”, “medium”, and “well done”. If the consumer selected “undercooked”, the toaster oven controller could further modify futureconditioning parameters for fish to provide longer exposure to heat. Ifthe consumer selected “rare”, the controller would not further modifyfuture conditioning parameters for fish. If the consumer selected“medium”, the controller could adapt future conditioning parameters forfish to provide less exposure to heat. If the consumer selected “welldone”, the controller could adapt future conditioning parameters forfish to provide reduced heat and duration of exposure to heat.

Conditioner system 510 can prepare a nutritional substance for consumer540 which contains a plurality of nutritional substances 520.Conditioner module 500 includes recipe database 555 which is operablyconnected to controller 530. Recipe database 555 can be part ofnutritional substance database 550, or it can be a stand-alone database.While recipe database 555 can be located locally, it is preferablyaccessible to many conditioner modules 500 through a telecommunicationssystem such as the internet, including wireless telecommunicationssystems.

Controller 530 is also preferably connected to consumer database 580.Consumer database 580 may be additionally connected to consumerinterface 560. Consumer database 580 could include consumer's 540organoleptic and nutritional needs, and consumer 540 preferences, andcould be in the form of a consumer profile custom tailored to anindividual consumer or selected from a menu of consumer profiles.Consumer database 580 may receive input regarding consumer 540 fromconsumer 540, but could also include information supplied by consumer's540 medical records, exercise records for the consumer's gym, and otherinformation sources. Consumer database 580 could include informationregarding regulatory actions and/or manufacturer warnings or recalls ofnutritional substances which may be obtained, have been obtained, or maybe prepared or consumed by the consumer. Additionally, consumer database580 could include information regarding consumer's 540 preferencesprovided by controller 530 for previous nutritional substance 520conditionings, and may further include consumer experience inputregarding his experience and satisfaction with previously conditionednutritional substances. Consumer database 580 could include consumerpreferences from external sources such as restaurants and grocery storeswhere consumer 540 purchases nutritional substances 520. Finally,consumer database 580 could include information from consumer module600, in FIG. 1.

Consumer database 580 could be, but is not limited to, a local databasemaintained by controller 530 or consumer interface 560. Preferably,consumer database 580 is part of a nutritional substance industrydatabase containing such information regarding a plurality of consumers540.

For example, controller 530 can operate to select the necessaryingredients, nutritional substance 520, to prepare a meal. In this case,nutritional substance 520 could be a plurality of nutritional substances520. In operation, consumer 540 could select a dinner menu usingconsumer interface 560. Additionally, consumer 540 could select aspecific recipe from recipe database 555 or could select a recipe sourcewithin database 555, such as low salt meals or recipes by a certainwell-known chef. Controller 530 could prepare a shopping list forconsumer 540 through consumer interface 560. Alternatively, controller530 could transmit a shopping list to a nutritional substance 520supplier such as a grocery store, so consumer 540 could pick up suchitems already selected or could have such items delivered.

Alternatively, if instructed by consumer 540 to utilize nutritionalsubstances on hand, which have been logged into controller 530 throughnutritional substance reader 590, controller 530 could modify or suggesta recipe that used only nutritional substances 520 available toconditioner module 500. For example, if consumer 540 instructsconditioner module 500 through conditioner interface 560 that consumer540 would like Italian food in the style of a well-known Italian chef,controller 530 would utilize information in its various databases toprepare such a meal. In this case, controller 530 would match itsinventory of available nutritional substances with recipes from thewell-known Italian chef in recipe database 555 and find availablerecipes. Controller 530 could select a recipe that optimized consumer's540 needs and preferences and prepare a meal using conditioner system510. Alternatively, controller 530 could present various options toconsumer 540 using consumer interface 560, highlighting features of eachavailable meal from the standpoint of consumer's 540 nutritional needsand/or preferences. In another embodiment, nutritional substances 520available to conditioner module 500 may additionally, or alternatively,comprise nutritional substances which have been logged into localstorage environments and containers in proximity to the conditionersystem 510, such as through nutritional substance readers associatedwith the local storage environments and containers.

In FIG. 7, nutritional substance database 550, recipe database 555, andconsumer database 580 are part of nutritional substance industrydatabase 558. Controller 530 would communicate with nutritionalsubstance industry database 558 through a communication system such asthe internet, and preferably a telecommunications system such aswireless telecommunications. In such an arrangement, controller 530could even verify that local supermarkets have the items in stock,retrieve and transmit a route to get to the supermarket from theconsumer's current location, and further retrieve and transmit a routeto follow within the supermarket to efficiently obtain the items.

It is important to note that while FIGS. 6-7 of various embodiments ofthe present invention show nutritional substance database 550 as part ofthe conditioner module 500, they are in no way limited to thisinterpretation. It is understood that this convention is only one way ofillustrating the inventions described herein, and it is furtherunderstood that this is in no way limiting to the scope of the presentinvention. The same is understood for recipe database 555, consumerdatabase 580, and nutritional substance industry database 558. Forexample, any of nutritional substance database 550, recipe database 555,consumer database 580, and nutritional substance industry database 558can be contained within information module 100 or within conditionermodule 500.

In an embodiment of the present invention, a consumer wishing tocondition a nutritional substance using a conditioning appliance candetermine, and knowingly affect, the true residual nutritional,organoleptic, or aesthetic value of the nutritional substance after heputs it in the conditioning appliance. To do so, the consumer would scana dynamic information identifier provided with the nutritional substanceusing a scanner provided with, or associated with, the conditioningappliance. This enables the conditioning appliance's controller toretrieve, from the nutritional substance industry database, informationrelated to changes in nutritional, organoleptic, or aesthetic values (ΔNinformation) referenced to the dynamic information identifier.Thereafter, the conditioning appliance controller can request andreceive input from the consumer by providing options for the consumer tochoose from through a consumer interface, also referred to herein as adynamic nutritional substance menu panel, which may be a panel, screen,keyboard, or any known type of user interface. The dynamic nutritionalsubstance menu panel provides the consumer with the ability to input thedesired end results for the residual nutritional, organoleptic, oraesthetic value that will remain after conditioning, such as by choosingamong different possible end results offered by the dynamic nutritionalsubstance menu panel. The controller then creates, or retrieves from thenutritional substance industry database, adaptive conditioningparameters that are responsive to: the ΔN information retrieved from thenutritional substance industry database using the dynamic informationidentifier; and the consumer input obtained through the dynamicnutritional substance menu panel. It is understood that in the case ofconditioning appliances provided with nutritional substance attributesensors, the adaptive conditioning parameters may further be responsiveto information provided by the attribute sensors before or duringconditioning. It is also understood that in the case of conditioningappliances provided with the ability to obtain experience input from aconsumer, the adaptive conditioning parameters may further be responsiveto information provided by the consumer regarding a previousconditioning or consumption of a similar nutritional substance. Theseadaptive conditioning parameters, are then communicated to the consumerfor implementation through the dynamic nutritional substance menu panel,or alternatively, automatically implemented by the controller.

For example, the consumer is ready to prepare a macaroni and cheeseentrée using a combination microwave, convection, and grill oven,according to the present invention. Further, the consumer wants to servethe entrée as soon as possible. The consumer first uses the combinationoven's scanner to scan the dynamic information identifier provided withthe macaroni and cheese entrée. The dynamic information identifier maybe an optically readable label, an RFID tag, or any other known formatcompatible with the combination oven's scanner, attached to, orincorporated into, the nutritional substance or its packaging. Thecombination oven controller then retrieves the ΔN information referencedto the dynamic information identifier from the nutritional substanceindustry database. The conditioning appliance's controller additionallyrequests input from the consumer regarding the desired residualnutritional, organoleptic, or aesthetic value of the macaroni and cheeseentrée following conditioning, by providing options for the consumer tochoose from through its dynamic nutritional substance menu panel. It isunderstood that these options may be presented in any known fashion, andwhile particular presentation forms will be discussed herein, they arein no way limiting. In this example, the dynamic nutritional substancemenu panel presents options for the consumer to choose from in a formatsimilar to the options provided by routing and navigation applications(i.e. “shortest distance”, “shortest time”, “least freeway travel”, andso forth). For instance, the options provided by the dynamic nutritionalsubstance menu panel may be “fastest preparation time”, “highestnutritional value”, and “crispy topping” (corresponding to highestorganoleptic value for texture). The consumer can find out more detailedinformation regarding the residual nutritional, organoleptic, andaesthetic values that will result from a particular option by selectingthat option, whereupon the dynamic nutritional substance menu panel willprovide a summary of the corresponding residual nutritional,organoleptic, and aesthetic values, also referred to herein as anutritional substance residual value table. The dynamic nutritionalsubstance menu panel may further provide other useful information, suchas, but not limited to, the corresponding amount of conditioning timerequired to achieve the selected option. If the consumer determines thathe is not pleased with his selection based upon the more detailedinformation provided through the dynamic nutritional substance menupanel, particularly the information in the nutritional substanceresidual value table, he can return to the previous screen and chooseanother option. The consumer can continue to select options, review themore detailed information in the corresponding nutritional substanceresidual value table, as well as the other useful information provided,until he determines that an option meets his requirements. Upondetermining that an option meets his needs, particularly needs relatedto the information about residual nutritional, organoleptic, andaesthetic values summarized by the nutritional substance residual valuetable, the consumer proceeds with the option using the dynamicnutritional substance menu panel, such as by selecting “proceed”. Theconditioning appliance controller then implements the adaptivepreparation sequence, that is, the adaptive conditioning parameters thatare responsive to: the ΔN information it has retrieved from thenutritional substance industry database using the dynamic informationidentifier provided with the macaroni and cheese entrée; and theconsumer input obtained through the dynamic nutritional substance menupanel. The adaptive preparation sequence assures that the consumer willbe provided with a conditioned macaroni and cheese entrée that meets hisneeds, particularly his needs related to residual nutritional,organoleptic, and aesthetic values of the conditioned entrée.

In one example of the present invention, the consumer wishing to preparethe macaroni and cheese entrée selects the “fastest preparation time”option on the dynamic nutritional substance menu panel, as he needs toeat as soon as possible. The dynamic nutritional substance menu panelthen provides the consumer with a nutritional substance residual valuetable showing the residual nutritional, organoleptic, and aestheticvalues that will result from adaptively conditioning the macaroni andcheese entrée with the corresponding adaptive preparation sequence, andadditionally provides the amount of time required to do so. The consumerdetermines from the nutritional substance residual value table that oneof the entrée's residual nutritional values, for the purpose of thisexample, its complex carbohydrate content, will be 20% of its startingvalue. It is understood that the nutritional substance residual valuetable may provide any number of individual residual nutritional values,such as residual protein content, residual folic acid content, and soforth, and that those provided for the purpose of this example are in noway limiting. It is also understood that residual nutritional value maybe provided as an aggregated value based on several independent residualnutritional values. The consumer may additionally determine from thenutritional substance residual value table that the entrée's residualorganoleptic value for the crispness of its topping after conditioning,will be 10%, where 0% represents not at all crisp and 100% representsvery crisp. It is understood that the nutritional substance residualvalue table may provide any number of individual residual organolepticvalues, such as a rating to determine if the macaroni will be aldente, arating for overall moistness of the casserole, and so forth, and thatthose provided for the purpose of this example are in no way limiting.It is also understood that residual organoleptic value may be providedas an aggregated value based on several independent residualorganoleptic values. The consumer also determines from the dynamicnutritional substance menu panel that the conditioning will take only 10minutes. Today, preparation time is the most important criteria to theconsumer, so he proceeds by placing the macaroni and cheese entrée intothe combination oven, closing its door, and selecting the “proceed”option on the dynamic nutritional substance menu panel. The combinationoven can now instruct the consumer through its dynamic nutritionalsubstance menu panel on the various settings and time requirements toadaptively condition the macaroni and cheese entrée according to theadaptive preparation sequence. Alternatively, the combination oven'scontroller can automatically implement the adaptive preparationsequence, so that the consumer is free to do other things while theentrée is adaptively conditioned. If the combination microwave,convection, and grill oven is provided with nutritional substanceattribute sensors, the adaptive conditioning parameters might further bemodified responsive to information provided by the attribute sensorsbefore or during conditioning. In this example, the adaptive preparationsequence requires mostly the application of microwave at high intensitywith a few seconds of grill at the end of the sequence to cause a smallamount of crispness in the topping.

FIGS. 9a and 9b show formats by which a ΔN, and related residual andinitial nutritional, organoleptic, and aesthetic value may be expressed.The ear of corn shown on a microphone stand and labeled “INNIT” in FIGS.9a and 9b represents a nutritional, organoleptic, or aesthetic valueassociated with a nutritional substance. While any object may be chosento represent a nutritional, organoleptic, or aesthetic value, in apreferred embodiment, the chosen object corresponds to a logo, symbol,mascot, or other object associated with a Brand. Such a Brand might beassociated with a nutritional substance information system according tothe present inventions, a Measurement, Inspection, Engineering,Regulatory, Certification, or other Standard, or any other Brandassociated with the nutritional substance and information industry. Theobject chosen to represent a nutritional, organoleptic, or aestheticvalue is also referred to herein as a ΔN meter. In the followingexamples, the ΔN meter is the ear of corn shown on a microphone standand labeled “INNIT” shown in FIGS. 9a and 9b , and corresponds to thelogo of the provider of a nutritional substance information systemaccording to the present inventions.

In FIG. 9a , a ΔN meter according to the present invention communicatesvarious items regarding a nutritional value, for instance Vitamin-Cvalue, in a corresponding nutritional substance, for instance, a cartonof orange juice provided with a dynamic information identifier. Aconsumer desiring information regarding Vitamin-C values of the orangejuice can use his smartphone to scan the dynamic information identifierand determine the desired information. In this example, the informationis presented to the consumer on the screen of his smartphone in the formof the ΔN meter shown in FIG. 9a . The ΔN meter of this examplecommunicates symbolically through color, and color changes, the initialVitamin-C value, the current Vitamin-C value, and an expired Vitamin-Cvalue. The values may be shown as relative values without units ofmeasure, as shown, or may further be provided with actual units ofmeasure. In this example, the consumer is provided with a conceptualindicator regarding how much the Vitamin-C value has degraded relativeto its initial value and where its current Vitamin-C value is relativeto the expiration value of the Vitamin-C.

In FIG. 9b , a ΔN meter according to the present invention communicatesvarious items regarding a nutritional value, for instance Vitamin-Cvalue, in a corresponding nutritional substance, for instance, a cartonof orange juice provided with a dynamic information identifier. Aconsumer desiring information regarding Vitamin-C levels of the orangejuice can use his smartphone to scan the dynamic information identifierand determine the desired information. In this example, the informationis presented to the consumer on the screen of his smartphone in the formof the ΔN meter shown in FIG. 9b . The ΔN meter of this examplecommunicates symbolically through percent fill-level, and percentfill-level changes, the initial Vitamin-C value, the current Vitamin-Cvalue, and an expired Vitamin-C value. The values may be shown asrelative values without units of measure, as shown, or may further beprovided with actual units of measure. In this example, the consumer isprovided with a conceptual indicator regarding how much the Vitamin-Cvalue has degraded relative to its initial value and where its currentVitamin-C value is relative to the expiration value of the Vitamin-C.

It is understood that ΔN meters may take many forms and communicatevarious messages regarding a ΔN value or a residual nutritional,organoleptic, and/or aesthetic value of nutritional substances, and theexamples provided above are for illustrative purposes and not intendedto be limiting in any way. It is further understood that ΔN meters maybe utilized to communicate ΔN values and residual nutritional,organoleptic, and/or aesthetic values determined or estimated in anyfashion. In preferred embodiments, the ΔN value or the residualnutritional, organoleptic, and/or aesthetic value are determinedutilizing the nutritional substance information systems disclosedherein, including systems utilizing dynamic information identifiers andcorresponding nutritional substance database, systems utilizingnutritional attribute sensors and corresponding nutritional substanceattribute library, or a combination of both.

On another day, the same consumer is again going to prepare another oneof the same macaroni and cheese entrées in his combination oven. Heremembers that the last time he did, he was impressed with the speed ofpreparation, but wished it would have had higher residual complexcarbohydrate values and also wished it had a more crispy topping. Todayhe has no time constraints, and is more interested in the residualnutritional, organoleptic, and aesthetic values that can be achieved. Hescans the dynamic information identifier with the scanner on hiscombination oven. The oven's controller retrieves ΔN informationreferenced to the dynamic information identifier from the nutritionalsubstance industry database and additionally requests input from theconsumer regarding the desired residual nutritional, organoleptic, oraesthetic value of the macaroni and cheese entrée followingconditioning, by providing options for the consumer to choose fromthrough its dynamic nutritional substance menu panel. The options are“fastest preparation time”, “highest nutritional value”, and “crispytopping”. The consumer selects the “highest nutritional value” optionfrom the dynamic nutritional substance menu panel, as he wants to eat ahealthy meal. The dynamic nutritional substance menu panel then providesthe consumer with a nutritional substance residual value table showingthe residual nutritional, organoleptic, and aesthetic values that willresult from adaptively conditioning the macaroni and cheese entrée withthe corresponding adaptive preparation sequence, and additionallyprovides the amount of time required to do so. The consumer determinesfrom the nutritional substance residual value table that one of theentrée's residual nutritional values, for the purpose of this example,its complex carbohydrate content, will be 80% of its starting value. Itis understood that the nutritional substance residual value table mayprovide any number of individual residual nutritional values, such asresidual protein content, residual folic acid content, and so forth, andthat those provided for the purpose of this example are in no waylimiting. It is also understood that residual nutritional value may beprovided as an aggregated value based on several independent residualnutritional values. The consumer may additionally determine from thenutritional substance residual value table that the entrée's residualorganoleptic value for the crispness of its topping after conditioning,will be 30%, where 0% represents not at all crisp and 100% representsvery crisp. It is understood that the nutritional substance residualvalue table may provide any number of individual residual organolepticvalues, such as a rating to determine if the macaroni will be aldente, arating for overall moistness of the casserole, and so forth, and thatthose provided for the purpose of this example are in no way limiting.It is also understood that residual organoleptic value may be providedas an aggregated value based on several independent residualorganoleptic values. The consumer also determines from the dynamicnutritional substance menu panel that the conditioning will take 40minutes. Today, residual nutritional value is the most importantcriteria to the consumer, so he proceeds by placing the macaroni andcheese entrée into the combination oven, closing its door, and selectingthe “proceed” option on the dynamic nutritional substance menu panel.The combination oven can now instruct the consumer through its dynamicnutritional substance menu panel on the various settings and timerequirements to adaptively condition the macaroni and cheese entréeaccording to the corresponding adaptive preparation sequence.Alternatively, the combination oven's controller can automaticallyimplement the adaptive preparation sequence, so that the consumer isfree to do other things while the entrée is adaptively conditioned. Ifthe combination microwave, convection, and grill oven is provided withnutritional substance attribute sensors, the adaptive conditioningparameters might further be modified responsive to information providedby the attribute sensors before or during conditioning. In this example,the adaptive preparation sequence requires mostly the application ofconvection heat with a minute of grill at the end of the sequence tocause a small amount of crispness in the topping without burning thecheese exposed to the grill.

On yet another day, the same consumer is again going to prepare anotherone of the same macaroni and cheese entrées in his combination oven. Heremembers that the last time he did, he was impressed with the highresidual nutritional value of the entrée, but wondered if he couldachieve a still more crispy topping while achieving acceptable residualnutritional value. Today he has no time constraints, and is moreinterested in the residual nutritional, organoleptic, and aestheticvalues that can be achieved. He scans the dynamic information identifierwith the scanner on his combination oven. The oven's controllerretrieves ΔN information referenced to the dynamic informationidentifier from the nutritional substance industry database andadditionally requests input from the consumer regarding the desiredresidual nutritional, organoleptic, or aesthetic value of the macaroniand cheese entrée following conditioning, by providing options for theconsumer to choose from through a consumer interface, also referred toherein as a dynamic nutritional substance menu panel. The options are“fastest preparation time”, “highest nutritional value”, and “crispytopping”. The consumer selects the “crispy topping” option from thedynamic nutritional substance menu panel, as he initially wants to findout what the residual nutritional value will be if he prepares theentrée according to his organoleptic preference for a crispy topping.The dynamic nutritional substance menu panel then provides the consumerwith a nutritional substance residual value table showing the residualnutritional, organoleptic, and aesthetic values that will result fromadaptively conditioning the macaroni and cheese entrée with thecorresponding adaptive preparation sequence, and additionally providesthe amount of time required to do so. The consumer determines from thenutritional substance residual value table that one of the entrée'sresidual nutritional values, for the purpose of this example, itscomplex carbohydrate content, will be 75% of its starting value. It isunderstood that the nutritional substance residual value table mayprovide any number of individual residual nutritional values, such asresidual protein content, residual folic acid content, and so forth, andthat those provided for the purpose of this example are in no waylimiting. It is also understood that residual nutritional value may beprovided as an aggregated value based on several independent residualnutritional values. The consumer may additionally determine from thenutritional substance residual value table that the entrée's residualorganoleptic value for the crispness of its topping after conditioning,will be 97%, where 0% represents not at all crisp and 100% representsvery crisp. It is understood that the nutritional substance residualvalue table may provide any number of individual residual organolepticvalues, such as a rating to determine if the macaroni will be aldente, arating for overall moistness of the casserole, and so forth, and thatthose provided for the purpose of this example are in no way limiting.It is also understood that residual organoleptic value may be providedas an aggregated value based on several independent residualorganoleptic values. The consumer also determines from the dynamicnutritional substance menu panel that the conditioning will take 90minutes. Today, the residual organoleptic value related to the toppingcrispness is the most important criteria to the consumer, and he hasverified that he makes only a small sacrifice in the residualnutritional value to achieve this, so he proceeds by placing themacaroni and cheese entrée into the combination oven, closing its door,and selecting the “proceed” option on the dynamic nutritional substancemenu panel. The combination oven can now instruct the consumer throughits dynamic nutritional substance menu panel on the various settings andtime requirements to adaptively condition the macaroni and cheese entréeaccording to the corresponding adaptive preparation sequence.Alternatively, the combination oven's controller can automaticallyimplement the adaptive preparation sequence, so that the consumer isfree to do other things while the entrée is adaptively conditioned. Ifthe combination microwave, convection, and grill oven is provided withnutritional substance attribute sensors, the adaptive conditioningparameters might further be modified responsive to information providedby the attribute sensors before or during conditioning. In this example,the adaptive preparation sequence requires mostly the application of lowconvection heat with 3 intervals of 1 minute of grill at the end of thesequence to cause a significant amount of crispness in the topping.

In a further example, the combination microwave, convection, and grilloven in the used to condition the macaroni and cheese entrée is providedwith the ability to obtain experience input from the consumer. In thiscase, the adaptive conditioning parameters may further be responsive toinformation provided by the consumer regarding previous consumption ofmacaroni and cheese entrees prepared by the combination oven. Forinstance, in the past, the consumer's input regarding the desiredtexture of macaroni in a macaroni and cheese, or possible other pastaentrees, may have been “al dente”, however his corresponding experienceinput indicated that the pasta was “overcooked”. The controller of thecombination oven can modify the current adaptive conditioning parametersresponsive to the previous consumer experience input regarding macaroniand cheese.

FIG. 8 shows an alternate embodiment of a conditioner module accordingto the present invention, wherein a conditioner or conditioner system,also referred to herein as a conditioning appliance, may have featuresenabling it to communicate with an alternate database that facilitatesidentification of a nutritional substance to be conditioned. Suchfeatures may include, but are not limited to, sensors capable ofmeasuring and collecting data regarding visual appearance, taste, smell,volatiles, texture, touch, sound, chemical composition, temperature,weight, volume, density, hardness, viscosity, surface tension, and anyother known physical attribute of the nutritional substance, and arealso referred to herein as nutritional substance attribute sensors orattribute sensors. These may include, but are not limited to, opticalsensors, laser sensors, spectrometers, Raman spectrometers,hyper-spectral imaging equipment, cameras, electric noses, microphones,olfactory sensors, surface topography measurement equipment, threedimensional measuring equipment, chemical assays, hardness measuringequipment, ultrasound equipment, x-ray, impedance detectors, temperaturemeasuring equipment, weight measurement equipment, and any known sensorcapable of providing data regarding a physical attribute of anutritional substance. The alternate database would consist of a massivelibrary of nutritional substance attribute data, related to the visualappearance, taste, smell, texture, touch, chemical composition and anyother known physical attributes, referenced to correspondingnutritional, organoleptic, and aesthetic states of known nutritionalsubstances, and is herein referred to as the nutritional substanceattribute library. It is understood that such conditioning appliancesmay also be provided with a nutritional substance reader 590, such thatthey can interact with nutritional substances provided with, andwithout, dynamic information identifiers, adaptive conditioningprotocols or reference to an adaptive conditioning database. Thenutritional substance attribute library may be separate from nutritionalsubstance industry database 558, or is preferably part of thenutritional substance industry database 558. Further, the nutritionalsubstance attribute library may be separate from the nutritionalsubstance database 550, or may exist within nutritional substancedatabase 550. In a preferred embodiment, the nutritional substanceattribute library coexists with the nutritional substance database 550,the recipe database 555, and the consumer database 580, within thenutritional substance industry database 558.

There are many examples of sensor technology that might be utilized as anutritional substance attribute sensor, including, but are not limitedto: Surface plasmon resonance sensors (SPR) such as a cell phone basedsensor platform disclosed by Preechaburana et at, Angew. Chem. Int. Ed.2012,51,11585-11588, “Surface plasmon resonance chemical sensing on cellphones”; SPR sensors such as those disclosed by Zhang, et al, ZhejiangUniversity, Hangzhou 310058, P.R. China “Detection of penicillin viasurface plasmon resonance biosensor”; the combination of microfluidicswith Lab-on-a-Chip and Lab-on-a-Foil solutions disclosed by Focke, etal, www.rsc.org/loc, 19-Mar-2010, “Lab-on-a-Foil: microfluidics on thinand flexible films”; Localized surface plasmon response sensors (LSPR)such as those disclosed by Roche, et al, Journal of Sensors, volume2011, article ID 406425, doi: 10.1155/2011/406425, “A camera phonelocalized surface plasmon biosensing platform towards low-costlabel-free diagnostic testing”; printed sensors such as those availablefrom Thin Film Electronics ASA, for example the ThinfilmTime-Temperature Sensor; wireless pH sensors such as those discussed inIEE Sensors Journal, Vol 12, No. 3, March 2012 487 “A passiveradio-frequency pH sensing tag for wireless food quality monitoring”;sensing of biological quantities such as that discussed in ApplMicrobiol Biotechnol (2013) 97:1829-1840 “An overview of transducers asplatform for the rapid detection of foodborne pathogens”; cell phonebased E. Coli sensor using florescent imaging to detect bacteria in foodand water, developed at UCLA Henry Samueli School of Engineering andApplied Science; sensors discussed in Journal of Food Engineering 100(2010) 377-387 “Biomimetric-based odor and taste sensing systems to foodquality and safety characterization: An overview on basic principals andrecent achievements”; sensors discussed in Sensors 2010, 10, 3411-3443,doi 10.3390/s100403411 “Advanced Taste Sensors Based on ArtificialLipids with Global Selectivity to Basic Taste Qualities and HighCorrelation to Sensory Scores”; sensing described in Chem. Sci., 2012,3, 2542 “Fluorescent DNAs printed on paper: sensing food spoilage andripening in the vapor phase”; the use of a Silicon IntegratedSpectrometer to sense food for ripeness and other qualities is describedin IEEE Photonics Journal, 1 (4), p. 225-235 (2009); electronic noseslike those discussed by Walt DR., Anal chem 2005 77:A-45; electronicnoses like those discussed by Gardner J W et al., Electronic noses:principles an applications. Oxford University press, New York, 1999;colorimetric sensor arrays like those discussed by Suslick et al., AnalChem 2010 82(5):2067-2073; numerous sensing techniques described inanalytica chima acta 605 (2007) 111-129 “A review on novel developmentsand applications of immunosensors in food analysis”; numerous sensingtechniques described in J. Biophotonics 5, No. 7, 483-501 (2012)/doi10.1002/jbio.201200015 “Surface plasmon resonance based biosensortechnique: A review”; LSPR techniques to sense bitterness of teadescribed in Agric. Food Chem., 2010, 58 (14), pp 8351-8356“B-Cyclodextrin/Surface plasmon response detection system for sensingbitter astringent taste intensity of green tea catechins”; a review onnano-biosensors to measure tastes and odors discussed inBio-Nanotechnology: A revolution in food biomedical and health sciences,first edition, 2013, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. “Nano-Biosensors formimicking gustatory and olfactory senses”; techniques described inScience Daily,http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/02/130214111612.htm,14-Feb-2013 “World's most sensitive plasmon resonance sensor inspired bythe ancient roman cup”; ethylene sensors discussed in Anal. Chem., 2011,83 (16), pp 6300-6307, doi: 10.1021/ac2009756 “Electrochemical sensingof ethylene employing a thin ionic-liquid layer”; multiplex SPRtechniques described in Anal Bioanl Chem (2011) 400: 3005-3011, doi10.1007/s00216-011-4973-8 “Imaging surface plasmon resonance formultiplex microassay sensing of mycotoxins”; a review of noble metalnono-optical sensors based on LSPR by Zhao, et al, “Localized surfaceplasmon resonance biosensors”; colorimetric plasmon resonance imagingdescribed by Gartia, et al, Advanced Optical Materials 2013, 1, 68-76,doi: 10.1002/adom.201200040 “Colorimetric plasmon resonance imagingusing nano Lycurgus cup arrays”; sensor using multiplex fiber-opticbiosensor implemented by integrating multiple particle plasmonresonances (PPRs), molecular bioassays, and microfluidics is disclosedby Lin, et al, Proc. SPIE 8351, Third Asia Pacific Optical SensorsConference, 83512S (Jan. 31, 2012), doi: 10.117/12.914383 “Multiplexfiber-optic biosensor using multiple particle plasmon resonances”;sensor based on multilayered graphene SPR-based transmission disclosedby Kim, et al, J. Nonosci. Nanotechnol, 2012 Jul 12(7):5381-5“Evaluation of multi-layered graphene surface plasmon resonance-basedtransmission type fiber optic sensor”; sensors to detect Mercury valuessuch as the biosensors, chemical sensors, conductometric sensors,microcantilevel sensors, SAW sensors, piezoelectric sensors, andnanosensors similar to those described by: Selid et al, Sensors 2009, 9,5446-5459; doi: 10.3390/s90705446; and Katherine Davies, Royal Societyof Chemistry, Chemistry World, New chemosensor for mercury detection(http://www.rsc.org/chemistryworld/Issues/2005/July/mercury_detection.asp);sensors to detect caffeine values may be similar to those described by:Chung I C, et al, J Nanosci Nanotechnol. 2011 Dec;11(12):10633-8, Aportable electrochemical sensor for caffeine and (-)epigallocatechingallate based on molecularly imprinted poly(ethylene-co-vinyl alcohol)recognition element.; or Ebarvia, et al, Analytical and BioanalyticalChemistry, March 2004, Volume 378, Issue 5, pp 1331-1337, Biomimeticpiezoelectric quartz sensor for caffeine based on a molecularlyimprinted polymer.; or Zhao, et al,http://www.researchgate.net/publication/225410860, Department ofMaterial and Chemistry Engineering, Henan Institute of Engineering,Zhengzhou, 450007 China, Article-Voltammetric sensor for caffeine basedon a glassy carbon electrode modified with Nafion and graphene oxide;sensors to detect sugar values may be similar to those described by:Kumar, et al, Error! Hyperlink reference not valid., Study of fiberoptic sugar sensor; or Scampicchio, et al, Nanotechnology 20 135501doi:10.1088/0957-4484/20/13/135501, Issue 13, 1-April-2009, Opticalnanoprobes based on gold nanoparticles for sugar sensing; sensors todetect temperature values may be similar to those manufactured byMICRO-EPSILON, and described at www.micro-epsilon as miniaturenon-contact IR sensors thermoMETER CSmicro and non-contact IR sensorswith laser aiming thermoMETER CSlaser; sensors for detecting temperaturevalues may also include any thermocouple type sensor suitable forcontact sensing of temperature. It is understood that sensors may beconfigured to perform multiple test assays in a single use to develop amultidimensional dataset from each use.

Other examples of sensor technology that might be utilized includessensors similar to those manufactured by MICRO-EPSILON and described atwww.micro-epsilon as fixed lens color sensors color SENSOR OT-3-GL andOT-3-LU. These sensors illuminate a surface with white light and sensethe reflected color values, and are particularly useful for colorrecognition of non-homogeneous targets and glossy targets, for instance,a piece of beef or other animal tissue packaged in clear cellophane,packaged in shrink-wrap, or not currently packaged. These sensors canalso provide useful information regarding the turbidity of liquids.Alternatively, sensors may be similar to those manufactured byMICRO-EPSILON and described at www.micro-epsilon as fiber color sensors,colorSENSOR LT-1-LC-20, WLCS-M-41, and LT-2. These sensors use amodulated white light LED to project a spot onto or through a target,and focusing part of the reflected or transmitted light with fiber opticonto a color detector element. Common sensing techniques include, butare not limited to: projecting a spot directly on and normal to aninspection target and focusing part of the back-scattered light withfiber optic onto a color detector; projecting a spot indirectly, that isat an angle to, an inspection target and focusing part of the reflectedlight with fiber optic onto a color detector; and projecting a spotdirectly through an inspection target and focusing part of thetransmitted light with fiber optic onto a color detector. Such anutritional substance attribute sensor may be configured to include awhite light source and color detector as a permanent part of a detector,for instance, a detector provided as part of a nutritional substancereader or dynamic appliance reader, and a coupler that enablesattachment of the detector to the mating coupler of various fiber opticprobe configurations to project light from the light source onto orthrough a target and to focus reflected or transmitted light from thetarget onto the color detector. Such fiber optic probes may be providedas a permanent part of a sealed nutritional substance package, whereinthe portions of the probe required to interface with the nutritionalsubstance are in direct contact with the nutritional substance, and themating coupler that allows removable attachment to the sensor couplerprovided with the detector is available externally of the package.Permanently incorporating the sensor probe into the package has manybenefits. The portion of the sensor probes in contact with thenutritional substance can be tailored to the specific product andpackage, while the mating coupler on the outside of the package isalways provided in the configuration compatible with the sensor coupleron the detector. This enables sensing of a wide array of packagednutritional substances without disrupting package integrity. It alsosimplifies the task greatly for a user, and ensures consistent andaccurate sensing technique.

Sensing technologies utilizing hyperspectral imaging are potentiallyuseful as nutritional substance attribute sensors, and because of theirspeed and ability to provide in-process detection, may be particularlyuseful for applications during local storage and conditioning ofnutritional substances. Hyperspectral imaging may be utilized in someembodiments of the present invention, for example, for in-lineinspection of multiple produce items, such as apples or strawberries, asthey are placed into a dynamic appliance such as a refrigerator, oralternatively, for rapid inspection of meat products such as poultry orseafood, as they are removed from a dynamic appliance such as arefrigerator, or placed into a dynamic appliance such as a toaster oven.This technology is particularly useful for identifying anomalies innutritional substances without disrupting the nutritional substance. Allsubstances have unique spectral signatures, which can be saved in alibrary. Libraries including the spectral responses of known nutritionalsubstances in known nutritional, organoleptic, or aesthetic conditions,and further including known sources of adulteration, such as fecalmatter, chemical contamination, micro-organisms and other pathogens ordisease conditions, can be used for comparison to spectral responses ofnutritional substances currently being sensed, and in this way thecurrently sensed nutritional substance can be quickly identifiedaccording to desired criteria. Hyperspectral sensing may further beutilized for plant and crop phenotyping, whereby a composite of anutritional substance's observable characteristics provides a uniquenutritional substance fingerprint. This can be particularly beneficialto rule out adulteration such as by partial or total ingredientsubstitution, and may be accomplished by an appropriately equippeddynamic appliance.

Sensing technologies utilizing near-infrared spectroscopy may bepotentially useful as nutritional substance attribute sensors, becauseof their ability to provide detection below the surface of a sensedobject, may be particularly useful for identifying the type andconcentration of various components of a nutritional substance. Examplesof this type of sensor include the microPHAZIR RX from Thermo FisherScientific and near-infrared technologies under development byFraunhofer Institute for Electonic Nano Systems.

Other examples of optical sensor technology that might be utilizedinclude, but are not limited to: handheld Raman spectrometers availablefrom Serstech, www.serstech.com; PinPointer™ handheld Raman spectrometeravailable from Ocean Optics, www.oceanoptics.com; TruScan RM handheldRaman spectrometer available from Thermo Fisher Scientific; nearinfra-red sensor available from Thermo Fisher Scientific; Xantus Mini™remote controlled, smartphone compatible Raman spectrometer availablefrom Rigaku, www.rigaku.com; Lighting Passport handheld or remotesmartphone compatible spectrometer from Asensetek,www.alliedscientificpro.com.

At this juncture it can be understood that a nutritional, organolepticor aesthetic value of a nutritional substance can be indicated by itsolfactory values or its taste values. Typically, but not necessarily,olfactory values and taste values are detectable by the human sense ofsmell. However, nutritional substances may emit or produce gaseouscomponents that are not detectable or discernible by the human sense ofsmell, or components not detectable or discernible by human sense oftaste, but, nevertheless, may be indicative of a particular nutritional,organoleptic, and aesthetic state of the nutritional substance. Inaddition, olfactory values and taste values can be indicative ofadulteration of nutritional substances, such as by spoilage,contamination, or substitution of other nutritional substances.

It is understood that the utilization of the nutritional substanceattribute sensors according to the present invention can providebeneficial information regarding adulteration or mislabeling ofnutritional substances.

In an example of a conditioning appliance equipped with nutritionalsubstance attribute sensors, a consumer places a turkey breast in acombination microwave, convection, and grill oven equipped withnutritional substance attribute sensors. The nutritional substanceattribute sensors collect a variety of physical attribute data from theturkey breast. The conditioning appliance's controller then transmitsthe physical attribute data collected to the nutritional substanceindustry database, for comparison to the nutritional substance attributelibrary contained therein. It is understood that while FIG. 8 shows thenutritional substance industry database as part of the conditionermodule, it may reside in the information module. It is furtherunderstood that while the nutritional substance attribute library isshown as part of the nutritional substance industry database, this onlyfor the purposes of example and not intended to be limiting in any way,and it may reside within the information module or may exist as anindependent database. When a match is found for the physical attributedata collected from the turkey breast placed in the conditioningappliance, the nutritional substance industry database can determinethat the matching nutritional substance attribute library datasetcorresponds to a turkey breast with known nutritional, organoleptic, andaesthetic values, and that it weighs 2 pounds and is at a temperature of40 deg. F. Thereafter, the conditioning appliance controller can requestinput from the consumer by providing options for the consumer to choosefrom through a consumer interface, also referred to herein as a dynamicnutritional substance menu panel, which may be a panel, screen,keyboard, or any known type of user interface. The dynamic nutritionalsubstance menu panel provides the consumer with the ability to input thedesired end results for the residual nutritional, organoleptic, oraesthetic value that will remain after conditioning, such as by choosingamong different possible end results offered by the dynamic nutritionalsubstance menu panel. The controller then creates, or retrieves from thenutritional substance industry database, adaptive conditioningparameters that are responsive to: the nutritional, organoleptic, andaesthetic value information retrieved from the nutritional substanceindustry database using the nutritional substance attribute library; andthe consumer input obtained through the dynamic nutritional substancemenu panel. These adaptive conditioning parameters, also referred toherein as adaptive preparation sequence, are then communicated to theconsumer for implementation through the dynamic nutritional substancemenu panel, or alternatively, automatically implemented by thecontroller.

In the above example, the consumer is ready to prepare a turkey breastusing a combination microwave, convection, and grill oven equipped withnutritional substance attribute sensors. The consumer places the turkeybreast in the combination oven, where the oven's nutritional substanceattribute sensors sense various physical attribute data from the turkeybreast. The combination oven controller then transmits the sensedattribute data to the nutritional substance industry database forcomparison to the nutritional substance attribute library. Thenutritional substance industry database determines that the sensed datamatches the nutritional substance attribute library datasetcorresponding to turkey breast having specific nutritional,organoleptic, and aesthetic values, and also determines its weight andtemperature. The conditioning appliance's controller additionallyrequests input from the consumer regarding the desired residualnutritional, organoleptic, or aesthetic value of the turkey breastfollowing conditioning, by providing options for the consumer to choosefrom through its dynamic nutritional substance menu panel. It isunderstood that these options may be presented in any known fashion, andwhile particular presentation forms will be discussed herein, they arein no way limiting. In this example, the dynamic nutritional substancemenu panel presents options for the consumer to choose from in a formatsimilar to the options provided by routing and navigation applications(i.e. “shortest distance”, “shortest time”, “least freeway travel”, andso forth). For instance, the options provided by the dynamic nutritionalsubstance menu panel may be “fastest preparation time”, “highestnutritional value”, and “tender” (corresponding to highest residualorganoleptic value for texture). The consumer can find out more detailedinformation regarding the residual nutritional, organoleptic, andaesthetic values that will result from a particular option by selectingthat option, whereupon the dynamic nutritional substance menu panel willprovide a summary of the corresponding residual nutritional,organoleptic, and aesthetic values, also referred to herein as anutritional substance residual value table. The dynamic nutritionalsubstance menu panel may further provide other useful information, suchas, but not limited to, the corresponding amount of conditioning timerequired to achieve the selected option. If the consumer determines thathe is not pleased with his selection based upon the more detailedinformation provided through the dynamic nutritional substance menupanel, particularly the information in the nutritional substanceresidual value table, he can return to the previous screen and chooseanother option. The consumer can continue to select options, review themore detailed information in the nutritional substance residual valuetable, as well as the other useful information provided, until hedetermines that an option meets his requirements. Upon determining thatan option meets his needs, particularly needs related to the informationabout residual nutritional, organoleptic, and aesthetic valuessummarized by the nutritional substance residual value table, theconsumer can proceed with the option by using the dynamic nutritionalsubstance menu panel, such as by selecting “proceed”. The conditioningappliance controller then implements adaptive conditioning parametersthat are responsive to: the information it has retrieved from thenutritional substance industry database by comparing sensed physicalattribute data to the nutritional substance attribute library; and theconsumer input obtained through the dynamic nutritional substance menupanel. These adaptive conditioning parameters, also referred to hereinas adaptive preparation sequence, assure that the consumer will beprovided with an adaptively conditioned turkey breast that meets hisneeds, particularly his needs related to residual nutritional,organoleptic, and aesthetic values of the adaptively conditioned turkeybreast.

In one example of the present invention, the consumer wishing to preparethe turkey breast selects the “fastest preparation time” option on thedynamic nutritional substance menu panel, as he needs to eat as soon aspossible. The dynamic nutritional substance menu panel then provides theconsumer with a nutritional substance residual value table showing theresidual nutritional, organoleptic, and aesthetic values that willresult from adaptively conditioning the turkey breast with thecorresponding adaptive preparation sequence, and additionally providesthe amount of time required to do so. The consumer determines from thenutritional substance residual value table that one of the turkeybreast's residual nutritional values, for the purpose of this example,its residual protein content, will be 60% of its starting value. It isunderstood that the nutritional substance residual value table mayprovide any number of individual residual nutritional values, such asresidual complex carbohydrate content, residual fat content, residualfolic acid content, and so forth, and that those provided for thepurpose of this example are in no way limiting. It is also understoodthat residual nutritional value may be provided as an aggregated valuebased on several independent residual nutritional values. The consumermay additionally determine from the nutritional substance residual valuetable that the turkey breast's residual organoleptic value fortenderness after conditioning will be 10%, where 0% represents not atall tender and 100% represents very tender. It is understood that thenutritional substance residual value table may provide any number ofindividual residual organoleptic values, such as a rating to determineif the turkey breast will be well done, a rating for overall moistnessof the turkey breast, and so forth, and that those provided for thepurpose of this example are in no way limiting. It is also understoodthat residual organoleptic value may be provided as an aggregated valuebased on several independent residual organoleptic values. The consumeralso determines from the dynamic nutritional substance menu panel thatthe adaptive conditioning will take only 8 minutes. Today, preparationtime is the most important criteria to the consumer, so he proceeds byselecting the “proceed” option on the dynamic nutritional substance menupanel. The combination oven can now instruct the consumer through itsdynamic nutritional substance menu panel on the various settings andtime requirements to adaptively condition the turkey breast according tothe corresponding adaptive preparation sequence. Alternatively, thecombination oven's controller can automatically implement the adaptivepreparation sequence, so that the consumer is free to do other thingswhile the turkey breast is adaptively conditioned. The adaptivepreparation sequence may further be responsive to input obtained fromone or more attribute sensors during conditioning. In this example, theadaptive preparation sequence requires mostly the application ofmicrowave at high intensity with a few seconds of grill at the end ofthe sequence to cause a small amount of crispness in the skin.

On another day, the same consumer is again going to prepare a similarturkey breast in his combination oven. He remembers that the last timehe did, he was impressed with the speed of preparation, but wished itwould have had higher residual protein value and also wished it had beenmore tender. Today he has no time constraints, and is more interested inthe residual nutritional, organoleptic, and aesthetic values that can beachieved. He places the turkey breast in the combination oven, where theoven's nutritional substance attribute sensors sense various physicalattribute data from the turkey breast. The conditioning appliance'scontroller then transmits the physical attribute data collected to thenutritional substance industry database, for comparison to thenutritional substance attribute library contained therein. When a matchis found for the physical attribute data collected from the turkeybreast, the nutritional substance industry database can determine thatthe matching nutritional substance attribute library dataset correspondsto a turkey breast with known nutritional, organoleptic, and aestheticvalues, and that it weighs 2.2 pounds and is at a temperature of 42 deg.F. The controller additionally requests input from the consumerregarding the desired residual nutritional, organoleptic, or aestheticvalue of the turkey breast following conditioning, by providing optionsfor the consumer to choose from through its dynamic nutritionalsubstance menu panel. The options are “fastest preparation time”,“highest nutritional value”, and “tender”. The consumer selects the“highest nutritional value” option from the dynamic nutritionalsubstance menu panel, as he wants to eat a healthy meal. The dynamicnutritional substance menu panel then provides the consumer with anutritional substance residual value table showing the residualnutritional, organoleptic, and aesthetic values that will result fromadaptively conditioning the turkey breast with the correspondingadaptive preparation sequence, and additionally provides the amount oftime required to do so. The consumer determines from the nutritionalsubstance residual value table that one of the turkey breast's residualnutritional values, for the purpose of this example, its proteincontent, will be 90% of its starting value. It is understood that thenutritional substance residual value table may provide any number ofindividual residual nutritional values, such as residual complexcarbohydrate content, residual folic acid content, residual fat content,and so forth, and that those provided for the purpose of this exampleare in no way limiting. It is also understood that residual nutritionalvalue may be provided as an aggregated value based on severalindependent residual nutritional values. The consumer may additionallydetermine from the nutritional substance residual value table that theturkey breast's residual organoleptic value for tenderness afterconditioning will be 50%, where 0% represents not at all tender and 100%represents very tender. It is understood that the nutritional substanceresidual value table may provide any number of individual residualorganoleptic values, such as a rating to determine if the turkey breastwill be well done, a rating for overall moistness of the turkey breast,and so forth, and that those provided for the purpose of this exampleare in no way limiting. It is also understood that residual organolepticvalue may be provided as an aggregated value based on severalindependent residual organoleptic values. The consumer also determinesfrom the dynamic nutritional substance menu panel that the conditioningwill take 40 minutes. Today, residual nutritional value is the mostimportant criteria to the consumer, so he proceeds by selecting the“proceed” option on the dynamic nutritional substance menu panel. Thecombination oven can now instruct the consumer through its dynamicnutritional substance menu panel on the various settings and timerequirements to adaptively condition the turkey breast according to thecorresponding adaptive preparation sequence. Alternatively, thecombination oven's controller can automatically implement the adaptivepreparation sequence, so that the consumer is free to do other thingswhile the turkey breast is adaptively conditioned. The adaptivepreparation sequence may further be responsive to input obtained fromone or more attribute sensors during conditioning. In this example, theadaptive preparation sequence requires mostly the application ofconvection heat with two minutes of grill at the end of the sequence tocause a small amount of crispness in the skin without burning the skinexposed to the grill.

On yet another day, the same consumer is again going to prepare asimilar turkey breast in his combination oven. He remembers that thelast time he did this he was impressed with the high residualnutritional value of the turkey breast, but wondered if he could achievea still more tender turkey breast with acceptable residual nutritionalvalues. Today he has no time constraints, and is more interested in theresidual nutritional, organoleptic, and aesthetic values that can beachieved. He places the turkey breast in the combination oven, where theoven's nutritional substance attribute sensors sense various physicalattribute data from the turkey breast. The conditioning appliance'scontroller then transmits the physical attribute data collected to thenutritional substance industry database, for comparison to thenutritional substance attribute library contained therein. When a matchis found for the physical attribute data collected from the turkeybreast, the nutritional substance industry database can determine thatthe matching nutritional substance attribute library dataset correspondsto a turkey breast with known nutritional, organoleptic, and aestheticvalues, and that it weighs 2.1 pounds and is at a temperature of 41 deg.F. The controller additionally requests input from the consumerregarding the desired residual nutritional, organoleptic, or aestheticvalue of the turkey breast following conditioning, by providing optionsfor the consumer to choose from through its dynamic nutritionalsubstance menu panel. The options are “fastest preparation time”,“highest nutritional value”, and “tender”. The consumer selects the“tender” option from the dynamic nutritional substance menu panel, as heprefers to eat a tender piece of turkey breast if he can determine thatit is still a healthy meal. The dynamic nutritional substance menu panelthen provides the consumer with a nutritional substance residual valuetable showing the residual nutritional, organoleptic, and aestheticvalues that will result from adaptively conditioning the turkey breastwith the corresponding adaptive preparation sequence, and additionallyprovides the amount of time required to do so. The consumer determinesfrom the nutritional substance residual value table that one of theturkey breast's residual nutritional values, for the purpose of thisexample, its residual protein content, will be 88% of its startingvalue. It is understood that the nutritional substance residual valuetable may provide any number of individual residual nutritional values,such as residual complex carbohydrate content, residual folic acidcontent, residual fat content, and so forth, and that those provided forthe purpose of this example are in no way limiting. It is alsounderstood that residual nutritional value may be provided as anaggregated value based on several independent residual nutritionalvalues. The consumer may additionally determine from the nutritionalsubstance residual value table that the turkey breast's residualorganoleptic value for tenderness after conditioning will be 98%, where0% represents not at all tender and 100% represents very tender. It isunderstood that the nutritional substance residual value table mayprovide any number of individual residual organoleptic values, such as arating to determine if the turkey breast will be well done, a rating foroverall moistness of the turkey breast, and so forth, and that thoseprovided for the purpose of this example are in no way limiting. It isalso understood that residual organoleptic value may be provided as anaggregated value based on several independent residual organolepticvalues. The consumer also determines from the dynamic nutritionalsubstance menu panel that the conditioning will take 80 minutes. Today,residual organoleptic value, specifically tenderness, is the mostimportant criteria to the consumer, so he proceeds by selecting the“proceed” option on the dynamic nutritional substance menu panel. Thecombination oven can now instruct the consumer through its dynamicnutritional substance menu panel on the various settings and timerequirements to adaptively condition the turkey breast according to thecorresponding adaptive preparation sequence. Alternatively, thecombination oven's controller can automatically implement the adaptivepreparation sequence, so that the consumer is free to do other thingswhile the turkey breast is adaptively conditioned. The adaptivepreparation sequence may further be responsive to input obtained fromone or more attribute sensors during conditioning. In this example, theadaptive preparation sequence requires mostly the application of lowconvection heat with two cycles of 3 minutes of grill at the end of thesequence to cause a moderate amount of crispness in the skin.

In a further embodiment, the consumer may provide experience input, suchas through consumer interface 560, regarding his experience andsatisfaction with the adaptively conditioned nutritional substance. Suchexperience input may be stored by, but not limited to, the controller530 so that it can be utilized in the future for possible furthermodification of conditioning parameters for similar nutritionalsubstances. In this way, the controller learns how to adapt, or notadapt, conditioning parameters responsive to the consumer's experienceinput. For example, the consumer input through the consumer interface ofthe combination oven when placing a turkey breast into the oven may bethat he desires it to be rare after conditioning. After conditioning,the consumer may provide his experience input regarding the conditionedturkey breast, such as by selecting a description of the conditionedturkey breast from a screen providing the options of “under cooked”,“rare”, “medium”, and “well done”. If the consumer selected “undercooked”, the oven's controller could further modify future conditioningparameters for turkey breast to provide longer exposure to heat. If theconsumer selected “rare”, the controller would not further modify futureconditioning parameters for turkey breast. If the consumer selected“medium”, the controller could adapt future conditioning parameters forturkey breast to provide less exposure to heat. If the consumer selected“well done”, the controller could adapt future conditioning parametersfor turkey breast to provide reduced heat and duration of exposure toheat.

In another embodiment, a conditioning appliance is provided withnutritional substance reader 590 and nutritional substance attributesensors 591. The nutritional substance reader 590 scans a dynamicinformation identifier associated with a nutritional substance, and thenutritional substance attribute sensors 591 scan the nutritionalsubstance. The controller of the conditioning appliance uses the dynamicinformation identifier to determine the nutritional substance contentand current nutritional, organoleptic, or aesthetic value referenced tothe dynamic information identifier in the nutritional substancedatabase. The controller uses the data obtained from the nutritionalsubstance attribute sensors to determine the nutritional substancecontent and current nutritional, organoleptic, or aesthetic valuecorresponding to the values in the nutritional substance attributelibrary. The controller compares the nutritional substance content andnutritional, organoleptic, or aesthetic value information determinedfrom the nutritional substance database to that determined from thenutritional substance attribute library. If the information isdetermined to be similar, adaptive conditioning parameters responsive tothe current nutritional, organoleptic, and aesthetic values of thenutritional substance can be provided. If the information is determinedto be dis-similar, adaptive conditioning parameters may not be provided,or alternatively, the consumer may be provided with options through theconsumer interface. Options may include, but are not limited to,proceeding with conditioning by manually entered conditioningparameters; proceeding with adaptive conditioning parameters responsiveto information determined from nutritional substance database;proceeding with adaptive conditioning parameters responsive toinformation determined from nutritional substance attribute library; ornot proceeding with conditioning.

In an alternative embodiment, a conditioning appliance is provided withnutritional substance reader 590 and nutritional substance attributesensors 591. The nutritional substance reader 590 scans a tag or labelprovided with a nutritional substance to directly determine a labelednutritional substance content and current nutritional, organoleptic, oraesthetic value, and the nutritional substance attribute sensors 591scan the nutritional substance. The controller uses the data obtainedfrom the nutritional substance attribute sensors to determine thenutritional substance content and current nutritional, organoleptic, oraesthetic value corresponding to the values in the nutritional substanceattribute library. The controller compares the labeled nutritionalsubstance content and current nutritional, organoleptic, or aestheticvalue to that determined from the nutritional substance attributelibrary. If the information is determined to be similar, adaptiveconditioning parameters responsive to the current nutritional,organoleptic, and aesthetic values of the nutritional substance can beprovided. If the information is determined to be dis-similar, adaptiveconditioning parameters may not be provided, or alternatively, theconsumer may be provided with options through the consumer interface.Options may include, but are not limited to, proceeding withconditioning by manually entered conditioning parameters; proceedingwith adaptive conditioning parameters responsive to informationdetermined from the tag or label provided with the nutritionalsubstance; proceeding with adaptive conditioning parameters responsiveto information determined from nutritional substance attribute library;or not proceeding with conditioning.

In another embodiment, a conditioning appliance is provided with atleast one of a nutritional substance reader 590 and nutritionalsubstance attribute sensors 591. The conditioning appliance is furtherprovided with the ability to identify specific types of containers,including, but not limited to, plates, bowls, pan, grill, cookware, andso forth. The conditioning appliance may identify such a container byusing the nutritional substance reader to identify an identifier on thecontainer unique to that type of container, using an attribute sensor toidentify an attribute unique to such a container, or using containerdetectors to identify unique types of containers, for instance thecontainer may have an RFID tag enabling an RFID reader used as thecontainer detector to identify it. Such a conditioning appliance can beused to determine adaptive conditioning parameters that are responsiveto the current nutritional, organoleptic, and aesthetic values of thenutritional substance, consumer input, consumer experience input, andattribute sensor information during conditioning, but are additionallyresponsive to the specific container being used. In this way, theadaptive conditioning parameters may even account for the physicalproperties of the container holding the nutritional substance,including, but not limited to, the container's weight, thermalconductivity, and so forth.

It is understood that nutritional substance readers and attributesensors according to the present inventions, can beneficially beprovided with, or combined with, other nutritional substance modules,including transformation, preservation, and consumer modules. Forexample, the nutritional substance attribute sensors could be providedwith any local storage environment or container. Nutritional substanceattribute sensors, or at least a portion of the nutritional substanceattribute sensor, could be provided with or incorporated into thepackage of any pre-packaged nutritional substance, such that a consumermay interrogate the package without disrupting its integrity to obtaininformation related to a nutritional, organoleptic, or aesthetic valueof the nutritional substance contained therein. Further, nutritionalsubstance attribute sensors, or at least a portion of the nutritionalsubstance attribute sensor, could be provided with, coupled to, orincorporated into smartphones. This would enable a wide array of usersand scenarios wherein nutritional substances can be identified and theircurrent nutritional, organoleptic, and aesthetic state can bedetermined.

Unless the context clearly requires otherwise, throughout thedescription and the claims, the words “comprise,” “comprising,” and thelike are to be construed in an inclusive sense (i.e., to say, in thesense of “including, but not limited to”), as opposed to an exclusive orexhaustive sense. As used herein, the terms “connected,” “coupled,” orany variant thereof means any connection or coupling, either direct orindirect, between two or more elements. Such a coupling or connectionbetween the elements can be physical, logical, or a combination thereof.Additionally, the words “herein,” “above,” “below,” and words of similarimport, when used in this application, refer to this application as awhole and not to any particular portions of this application. Where thecontext permits, words in the above Detailed Description using thesingular or plural number may also include the plural or singular numberrespectively. The word “or,” in reference to a list of two or moreitems, covers all of the following interpretations of the word: any ofthe items in the list, all of the items in the list, and any combinationof the items in the list.

The above Detailed Description of examples of the invention is notintended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise formdisclosed above. While specific examples for the invention are describedabove for illustrative purposes, various equivalent modifications arepossible within the scope of the invention, as those skilled in therelevant art will recognize. While processes or blocks are presented ina given order in this application, alternative implementations mayperform routines having steps performed in a different order, or employsystems having blocks in a different order. Some processes or blocks maybe deleted, moved, added, subdivided, combined, and/or modified toprovide alternative or sub-combinations. Also, while processes or blocksare at times shown as being performed in series, these processes orblocks may instead be performed or implemented in parallel, or may beperformed at different times. Further any specific numbers noted hereinare only examples. It is understood that alternative implementations mayemploy differing values or ranges.

The various illustrations and teachings provided herein can also beapplied to systems other than the system described above. The elementsand acts of the various examples described above can be combined toprovide further implementations of the invention.

Any patents and applications and other references noted above, includingany that may be listed in accompanying filing papers, are incorporatedherein by reference. Aspects of the invention can be modified, ifnecessary, to employ the systems, functions, and concepts included insuch references to provide further implementations of the invention.

These and other changes can be made to the invention in light of theabove Detailed Description. While the above description describescertain examples of the invention, and describes the best modecontemplated, no matter how detailed the above appears in text, theinvention can be practiced in many ways. Details of the system may varyconsiderably in its specific implementation, while still beingencompassed by the invention disclosed herein. As noted above,particular terminology used when describing certain features or aspectsof the invention should not be taken to imply that the terminology isbeing redefined herein to be restricted to any specific characteristics,features, or aspects of the invention with which that terminology isassociated. In general, the terms used in the following claims shouldnot be construed to limit the invention to the specific examplesdisclosed in the specification, unless the above Detailed Descriptionsection explicitly defines such terms. Accordingly, the actual scope ofthe invention encompasses not only the disclosed examples, but also allequivalent ways of practicing or implementing the invention under theclaims.

While certain aspects of the invention are presented below in certainclaim forms, the applicant contemplates the various aspects of theinvention in any number of claim forms. For example, while only oneaspect of the invention is recited as a means-plus-function claim under35 U.S.C. §112, sixth paragraph, other aspects may likewise be embodiedas a means-plus-function claim, or in other forms, such as beingembodied in a computer-readable medium. Any claims intended to betreated under 35 U.S.C. §112, ¶ 6 will begin with the words “means for.”Accordingly, the applicant reserves the right to add additional claimsafter filing the application to pursue such additional claim forms forother aspects of the invention.

1. A nutritional substance product label system, said system comprising:an information storage means providing dynamic reference to one or moreadaptive conditioning sequences for a transformed nutritional substance;and a transformer of the transformed nutritional substance, the one ormore adaptive conditioning sequences and a nutritional or organolepticvalue associated with each of the one or more adaptive conditioningsequences being determined by the transformer conditioning thetransformed nutritional substance or representative samples of thetransformed nutritional substance; and an adaptive conditioning sequenceresponse means responsive to one or more attribute values sensed duringconditioning and corresponding to the nutritional or organoleptic valueof the nutritional substance during conditioning for adaptively alteringthe conditioning to preserve nutritional or organoleptic values of thenutritional substance being conditioned.
 2. A nutritional substanceproduct label system according to claim 1 wherein said informationstorage means further comprises an RFID tag, a magnetically readablelabel, or an optically readable label containing the one or moreadaptive conditioning sequences.
 3. A nutritional substance productlabel system according to claim 1 wherein said information storage meansfurther comprises an RFID tag, a magnetically readable label, or anoptically readable label containing a unique identifier referenced to adatabase containing the one or more adaptive conditioning sequences. 4.A nutritional substance product label system according to claim 1wherein consumer input enables selection of a particular adaptiveconditioning sequence from the one or more adaptive conditioningsequences.
 5. A nutritional substance product label system according toclaim 1 wherein said information storage means further comprises thenutritional or organoleptic value associated with each of the one ormore adaptive conditioning sequences.
 6. A nutritional substance productlabel system, said system comprising: an information storage meansproviding dynamic reference to one or more adaptive conditioningsequences for a transformed nutritional substance; and a transformer ofthe transformed nutritional substance, the one or more adaptiveconditioning sequences, target nutritional or organoleptic valuesassociated with each of the one or more adaptive conditioning sequencesbeing determined by the transformer through calculation using anutritional or organoleptic value of the transformed nutritionalsubstance following transformation; and an adaptive conditioningsequence response means responsive to one or more attribute valuessensed during conditioning and corresponding to the nutritional ororganoleptic value of the nutritional substance during conditioning foradaptively altering the conditioning to preserve nutritional ororganoleptic values of the nutritional substance being conditioned.
 7. Anutritional substance product label system according to claim 6 whereinsaid information storage means further comprises an RFID tag, amagnetically readable label, or an optically readable label containingthe one or more adaptive conditioning sequences.
 8. A nutritionalsubstance product label system according to claim 6 wherein saidinformation storage means further comprises an RFID tag, a magneticallyreadable label, or an optically readable label containing a uniqueidentifier referenced to a database containing the one or more adaptiveconditioning sequences.
 9. A nutritional substance product label systemaccording to claim 6 wherein consumer input enables selection of aparticular adaptive conditioning sequence from the one or more adaptiveconditioning sequences.
 10. A nutritional substance product label systemaccording to claim 6 wherein said information storage means furthercomprises the target nutritional or organoleptic value associated witheach of the one or more adaptive conditioning sequences.